iMight Be Crazy
by SkyCaptain1116
Summary: I'm not sure how it happened, but I might be crazy... CarMel - Carly/Melanie & Cam - Carly/Sam Disclaimer: I don't own iCarly. Don't sue me, I'm broke enough as it is...
1. 2 AM

"Hey Carls..."

She registered the drop of water on her face before she realized someone was speaking.

"Carly..."

Carly opened her eyes, blinking to adjust them to the lack of light. She glanced at her clock and then at the shadowy outline of her best friend leaning over her.

"Sam? It's 2 in the morning." Carly sat up and began rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Her nose was immediately assaulted with the overpowering smell of alcohol. "and you're drunk." Carly frowned.

Sam gave a sloppy grin and shrugged. Carly sighed and reached out to pull her friend into bed with her so she could go back to sleep, but instead ended up with a fist full of soggy shirt.

"You're soaking wet!"

"It's raining." Sam answered simply.

"Come on. If you don't dry off you'll get sick." Carly shook her head as she got out of bed. Grabbing her friend by the hand she led her to their bathroom. She began running warm water in the bathtub as Sam clumsily undressed.

"Get in and wash up." Carly instructed once the tub was full. "I'm going to put your clothes in the dryer." Sam nodded and carefully climbed in as Carly left the bathroom with Sam's wet clothes in hand.

As she loaded the clothes in the dryer Carly shook her head again. After their sophomore year of college Carly and Sam had decided to move off campus and get an apartment together. They'd been living together for a little over a year now and most of the time Carly felt more like Sam's maid than her roommate. She couldn't count how many times she ended up washing her friend's clothes or cleaning up after her. In fact, she couldn't think of much the other girl did on her own. As if on cue she heard her best friend yell out her name. Turning the dryer on, Carly made her way back to the bathroom.

"I can't reach my back." Sam pouted as she turned around in the spacious bathtub.

Carly kneeled beside the tub and Sam gave her the wash cloth. She gently scrubbed Sam's back, then poured shampoo in her hand and began massaging it into Sam's scalp. Sam hummed in pleasure and Carly laughed.

"What would you do without me?"

"Be hungry and dirty." Sam mumbled sleepily. The warm water and Carly's hands in her hair began to amplify the effects of the alcohol.

Carly noticed Sam beginning to doze off and decided it would be best to finish up in the bathroom. As she looked at the water in the tub, she realized that Sam had used too much soap and the water was way too sudsy to properly wash the other girl off. She pulled the plug out of the tub and let the water begin to drain.

"Close you eyes." She said to Sam softly. Sam immediately complied and Carly smiled at how easily her friend trusted her. "I'm going to turn on the shower. Sit here and wash yourself off while I go get you a towel and some clothes."

She closed the shower curtain and turned on the shower before heading out the bathroom towards Sam's room. She had to give the door an extra shove because of the pile of dirty clothes laying on the floor right behind it. Looking around at the mess she quickly came to the conclusion she probably wouldn't find anything clean in there. Sighing she realized she'd probably be washing the other girl's clothes sometime soon.

Heading into her own bedroom she grabbed a towel, a pair of shorts, and a t-shirt and moved back into the bathroom. The shower was off now and Sam sat half asleep in the empty tub.

"C'mon, let's get you in bed."

Carly helped the woman dry off and put her clothes on before pulling her back towards her bedroom. She should be used to this by now, Carly decided as she climbed back under her covers, this time with her friend curled up on her other side. Her best friend often ended up in her bedroom after wild nights of partying, and inevitably Carly always took care of the blonde.

As much as her friend's irresponsibility annoyed her, Carly knew that she'd always be there for Sam. In fact, she almost enjoyed taking care of her. She took pleasure in the fact that she was the only one who could get past the blonde's tough outer shell. She had accepted long ago that she had fallen for her best friend, and as she drifted back off to sleep she wondered when exactly her feelings for the blonde had started to change.


	2. Start of Something New

"Aren't you going to help at all?" Carly asked as she struggled to carry a box into the apartment.

"My head hurts." Sam was sprawled out on the couch and obviously had no intention of moving.

"That's because you spent all last night drinking."

"Well at least I helped pack yesterday."

"Yeah, if by helping you mean you ate a box of cereal and played with Pepper."

"I'm gonna miss Pepper." Sam acknowledged sadly.

"Sam!" Carly shouted indignantly. "Your sister gets dumped and kicked out by her girlfriend of two years and all you care about is the dog?"

"I don't see what the big deal is. Ellie and I just broke up." Sam muttered.

"You were only dating for two weeks and you cheated on her twice!"

"Well she still dumped me." Sam shot back.

"She dumped you because you cheated on her!" Carly responded in annoyance.

"Whatever. I still don't see why Melanie has to stay here. Can't she stay somewhere else?"

"Sam she's your sister." Carly answered exasperatedly.

"So?" Sam shrugged and turned her attention back to the television.

Carly let out a frustrated sigh. "We're going to move the rest of her stuff to storage. We should be back in a couple of hours."

"Uh-huh." Sam muttered, clearly not paying attention.

Carly sighed again before leaving. Hearing the door close, Sam turned from the TV. "Hey, where'd Carly go?" Shrugging she turned back to the TV.

Carly found Sam in the same position when she returned with Melanie a few hours later. Noticing Carly's return Sam perked up.

"I'm hungry."

"Have you moved at all while I've been gone?" Carly questioned setting down one of Melanie's bags.

"Uh-uh. I'm watching a marathon of Girly Cow."

"I thought that show got canceled." Melanie said as she set down the bag she was carrying.

"It did." Sam nodded. "That's why I'm not going to move until the marathon is over. Who knows when it will come on again!"

"Or you could just buy the DVD set." Carly laughed.

Sam snorted. "Why bother? It's on TV."

Carly shook her head in amusement and motioned for Melanie to follow her. "I took everything out of the hallway closet for you. You can put your stuff in here." She opened the door to show her the empty closet.

"All your yapping is ruining my Girly Cow." Sam complained as she pushed pass them in the hallway and moved into her room, presumably to continue watching Girly Cow.

"How do you live with her?" Melanie laughed.

"How did _you _live with her?" Carly shot back.

"Good point." Melanie smiled.

They walked back into the living room and Carly began pulling off the couch cushions. As she unfolded the bed from the sofa she looked over to Melanie apologetically.

"It's not the most private area in the apartment, but it's better than Sam's room." Carly smiled. "Spencer put this together using a couch, a futon, an old mattress, and some foam mattress toppers. It's actually really comfortable."

The two young women fell into silence as they made the bed. Laying the last pillow on the bed Melanie turned to Carly.

"Thank you." The blonde said softly.

"No problem." Carly replied. "I can't imagine what it's like to have your life turned upside down so quickly. If you ever need to talk or anything my room is, you know, right down the hall." She laughed softly and smiled.

"I really appreciate this." Melanie pulled Carly into a hug and laid her head on her shoulder, catching the brunette off guard.

Carly felt her stomach flip for a second and tried to push the feeling down. She knew the woman in her arms wasn't her best friend, despite the fact the two looked almost exactly the same. But she couldn't help but let herself enjoy the contact. While Sam was more open with Carly than anyone else, she was still sparing with physical affection. There was nothing wrong with taking small pleasure in the embrace of her twin. Right?


	3. Hearts on Fire

"Carly!" Sam complained, hanging upside down off the edge of Carly's bed. Carly didn't look up from her text book. She knew what was coming next.

"Why is she still here?" Sam whined.

"It's only been a couple of weeks." Carly's eyes remained on the book in front of her. She was determined to not let the pointless conversation distract her from studying.

"_Three _weeks! Three long, agonizing weeks!" Sam responded.

"Between her classes and her internship she's barely here."

"But when she is here she uses the bathroom–"

"Would you rather her pee on herself?" Carly interrupted. She quickly thought better of her last statement, "Wait, don't answer that."

"And she eats all our food!"

"_You _eat all of our food. In fact she's been buying most of the groceries."

"She's always sleeping when I want to watch TV in the living room."

"That's because you watch TV at 4 in the morning. Besides, you have a TV in your bedroom." Carly argued. Finally giving up, she moved her book to the side and laid back on her bed.

"She cleaned my room!" Sam shouted back in annoyance.

"Your room is – wait, how is that a bad thing?" Carly asked confused.

"She _cleaned _my room." Sam repeated in a grim tone as she sat up to emphasize that it was a big deal. "I can't find anything anymore."

"You couldn't find anything before!"

"But now it's clean! Sam whined again. "Do you know how hard it is to study in a clean room?"

"But you never study." Carly sighed and rolled her eyes. It was a pointless conversation and she knew continuing to argue would do no good. She couldn't figure out why she kept letting Sam drag her into this argument. Sam shifted and moved to rest against Carly's side. She laid her head on the brunette's shoulder and Carly instinctively began to run her hand through her best friend's hair.

"It's the middle of the semester. Finding an affordable place right now is hard. I'm sure she'll find something soon though." Carly reassured the blonde.

"I know." Sam sighed, calmed by Carly's hand in her hair. "I just want her gone before she ruins my life. Everything and everyone just gravitates towards her and it always ends up screwing up everything for me."

Sam was finally getting at the root of her irritation with her sister. Carly had no intention of interrupting. Sam was quiet for a few moments and Carly waited patiently for her to continue.

"I feel like she always gets everything she wants, and I always get left with the short end of the stick." Sam finally admitted.

"Well you got me." Carly said softly. "I'll always be your best friend. No one can take that away from you. Not even Melanie."

"You know I love you, right Carls?"

Carly's heart sped up. She knew the blonde meant it in a friendly way, but she couldn't help wishing it was more. Silently hoping her friend couldn't hear her racing heart, Carly responded.

"I love you too." She answered softly.

"Good." Sam said sitting up. "I want some ham."

Carly laughed at the random exclamation and the abrupt shift in topic. Checking the time, she shook her head at her best friend.

"I'd love to help you with that, but I actually have to go." Carly got off the bed and began putting on her shoes.

"Where are you going?" Sam pouted.

"I'm picking up Melanie. We're going to catch a movie." Carly admitted as she finished tying her shoes.

"Hey! How come I wasn't invited?" Sam asked in irritation.

"We're going to see that new Brad Pitt movie." Carly said searching for her keys.

"Hearts on Fire?" Sam asked. Carly nodded, finding her keys in the pocket of the jacket she had been wearing earlier. "That's a total chick flick!" Sam announced in disgust.

"Which is exactly why you weren't invited." Carly laughed as she exited the room. Sam remained on Carly's bed in shock. Hearing the front door close she finally snapped out of it.

"How am I supposed to get my ham now!" She cried out in agitation.


	4. Green With Envy

Freddie stretched as he walked into the living room of his one bed room apartment clad only in his underwear. His mother had insisted on him living alone. She claimed that 'other young men are filthy and bound to carry bed bugs, lice, and all sorts of other horrible things.' Freddie had to admit that he enjoyed having his own place and was thankful that his mother's neuroses had finally resulted in something positive.

He yelped in alarm when he caught site of Sam engrossed in a game on his Xbox. He uselessly tried to cover up his white hypoallergenic briefs and Sam snorted in amusement.

"Nothing I haven't seen before Freddork."

Freddie snorted in amusement. The two had dated for a couple months their senior year of high school. Losing their virginity to each other wasn't nearly as awkward as they both had imagined it would be. None the less, the two immediately agreed that the relationship was a temporary lapse in sanity. Sam promptly declared herself a lesbian and Freddie returned to fruitlessly pining after Carly.

He walked back into his room and emerged a few minutes later in a pair of long dark blue shorts and a white t-shirt.

"You realize breaking and entering is a crime, right?" Freddie said as he sat down on the couch.

Sam shook her head but didn't turn her attention from the video game. "Breaking and entering requires intent to commit a crime. This is more a case of criminal trespass."

"How do you even know stuff like that?" Freddie questioned. He then thought about the blonde's many encounters with the law when they were younger. "Never mind, stupid question. How'd you get in here though?"

"I used the key." Sam answered easily.

"But you don't have a key." He responded. Freddie paused to consider where she had gotten the key.

"Carly does." The two answered simultaneously.

Freddie shook his head. Maybe he shouldn't have given that key to Carly after all. He was pulled out of his thoughts when he realized Sam had completed the level.

"How'd you do that? I've been stuck on that level for two weeks!" Freddie shouted in amazement.

"It was easy." Sam shrugged before turning off the system and wandering into the kitchen in search of food. "Watcha got to eat in here?"

"You didn't save it!" Freddie stared at the blank screen in shock.

Sam returned to the couch with a ham sandwich. "Your game. Beat it yourself."

"I'm gonna be stuck on that level forever!" Freddie groaned. "Why are you even here?"

Sam scowled. "Carly and Melanie went out to see Hearts on Fire."

"That Brad Pitt film? That's a chick flick!"

"I know! They're always hanging out doing stupid girly stuff. She never hangs out with me anymore." Sam frowned.

"Didn't you guys go to the carnival last weekend?" Freddie interrupted.

"That's not the point! She shouldn't be hanging out with Melanie!"

A grin broke out on Freddie's face. "You're jealous."

"I'm not jealous." Sam ground out in agitation.

"You are! You're totally jealous." Freddie laughed.

"I am not jealous." Sam growled out in anger as she stood up menacingly.

"Sam is jealous of Melanie." Freddie began to sing-song as he stood up and began backing away from his blonde friend.

Sam tackled Freddie before he had a chance to get away. She pinned his arms against his body with her legs and began shoving his shirt into his mouth.

"Who's jealous now?" Sam yelled in triumph as Freddie squirmed beneath her. She finally took pity and moved off him. She reclaimed her seat on the couch and returned to finishing her sandwich.

Freddie laughed as he straightened out his clothes. "You have serious anger issues." Sam shrugged and continued to shove the sandwich in her mouth, finishing it quickly. "You should really work on that."

"I'm hungry." Sam announced, ignoring Freddie.

Freddie sighed. "I'm going shopping in a little while and then heading over to Gibby's to have a zombie movie marathon."

"Sounds like a plan." Sam turned the TV and the Xbox back on. She turned back to see Freddie still in the living room. "What are you waiting for? Get dressed!"

Freddie shook his head and went to take a shower and get dressed while Sam went back to playing the game.


	5. Utilities

"Hey." Melanie grinned as she climbed into Carly's car. "I have a favor to ask."

"Sure, what's up?" Carly asked as she pulled back onto the road.

"I just called about an apartment and the building supervisor said I could check it out now if I wanted to. We have some extra time before the movie starts, so I was hoping that maybe we could swing past and see the place?"

Carly stopped at a red light and turned to look at her friend. Melanie had plastered on a pleading smile and Carly couldn't help but give in. Laughing she nodded. "Where is this place?"

Melanie squealed in delight and quickly gave Carly the directions as she called the woman back to let her know that she was on her way. The two friends joked and made small talk on the short journey to the apartment. They arrived at the small building and Carly noted that the place looked a lot better kept then her own building. She locked the car doors as she followed Melanie inside and up the stairs. Melanie stopped in front of a door on the third floor and waited for someone to answer.

A short redhead quickly pulled open the door. "You must be Melanie. The apartment is on the second floor, just let me grab the keys." She smiled brightly and turned back into the apartment leaving the front door slightly ajar. She returned a moment later closing the door behind her before taking the nearby stairs down to the floor below.

"My name is Jillian by the way." The shorter woman said holding her hand out to Carly as she stopped in front of a door on the second floor.

"I'm Carly." Carly responded taking the other woman's hand. "I'm just a friend along for the ride."

Jillian smiled and turned back to Melanie after opening the door. "So this is the place." She stepped inside and moved to give enough space for the other two women to enter. She gave them a quick tour of the semi-furnished apartment, pointing out various positives about the apartment and ended the tour in the bedroom. Deciding she had provided all the immediate information she could think of, she turned to the fairly quiet Carly and Melanie who were exploring the room.

"Well, that's pretty much it. Any questions?"

"Does the rent cover utilities?" Melanie questioned meeting Jillian in the center of the room.

"Everything but the electric. We provide basic cable, and the building has wi-fi." Jillian responded. "They're doing some minor repairs in here, but they should be done by tomorrow afternoon, so you should be able to move in on Sunday if you're interested in the place."

Melanie moved back to Carly's side. "What do you think?"

Carly looked around the room again before responding. "I don't know. Why hasn't someone already rented the place? There's gotta be something wrong with it to be this nice with such cheap rent."

Overhearing the comment Jillian chimed in with a laugh. "The original tenant is studying abroad this semester, and the person who originally subletted had a mental breakdown or something and decided to drop out. Lisa, the original tenant, is paying part of the rent since she only needs someone to take the place until the spring."

Carly shrugged and turned back to Melanie. "Seems like a nice place. The only problem is you'll have to find another place for the spring."

"That's fine." Melanie turned to speak to Jillian. "Everything looks good. What do I have to do?"

Jillian smiled in excitement. "That's great! I'll go get the paperwork."

"That's it?" Carly asked in amazement. "What about guarantors, credit checks…"

"You said you're paying the entire rent upfront right?" At Melanie's nod Jillian continued. "Then once the check clears we don't really need anything else."

All three women were caught off guard by loud thumping resounding through the apartment. Jillian grimaced and looked at the ceiling. "Just as a forewarning, my boyfriend comes over pretty frequently." More banging could be heard from the apartment above, and Jillian frowned. "As you can see, he's not the quietest. I'll talk to him though. It shouldn't be a big problem."

"Should I go get the papers?" Jillian turned to Melanie, hopeful that she was still interested in the apartment. Melanie nodded and Jillian quickly exited the apartment before the blonde could change her mind.

Melanie smiled at Carly. "Well, looks like I'm finally getting out of your hair. Sad to see me go?"

Carly tried to ignore the slight sinking feeling in her stomach. She _was _sad that Melanie would be moving out. She couldn't figure out why she was so unsettled by the idea. Realizing she hadn't responded to her friend yet she shook her head as an answer and to clear her thoughts. She followed with a reassuring smile.

"It was nice having a roommate who cleans up after themselves. I'm actually going to miss you."

"I'm sure Sam won't." Melanie laughed as Jillian returned to the apartment. As Melanie began to fill out the various forms, Carly began to think about her earlier conversation with her best friend. Hopefully things would be a little less tense now. Carly sat down in a chair to wait for Melanie to finish so they could head out to the movie.


	6. Close Your Eyes

Carly sighed and tried to pay attention to the movie. They were about 45 minutes into the film and Carly honestly couldn't recall what had occurred in the last 20 minutes. She glanced beside her at the cause of her distraction. Melanie was completely engrossed in the plot unfolding on the screen and seemed unaware of Carly's predicament.

Carly gave up on attempting to concentrate after 10 minutes and returned to staring at Melanie's hand. She didn't understand this overwhelming urge she was feeling to be closer to the blonde. She had even considered the cliché yawn, stretch, and arm over the shoulder move. She closed her eye and let out a sigh. If this is what Freddie felt like every time they had been alone as teens, she suddenly felt sympathetic. She was broken out of her self-pity by a warmth enclosing her hand and a gentle weight on her shoulder. Carly opened her eyes to see Melanie's fingers interlocked with her own and the blonde's head resting on her shoulder.

Carly's heart leapt into her throat and began beating wildly. Now that she had gotten what she had spent the last hour agonizing over she wasn't sure how to respond. Carly attempted to control her breathing as her thoughts went into overdrive. Her whole body began to flush and she realized her palm was beginning to get clammy. She debated on whether or not to pull her hand away and wipe it on her jeans. She finally decided if Melanie wasn't bothered by it she would just try to calm down and enjoy the rest of the movie. She settled in the seat and returned her attention to the screen.

The two made their way out of the theater after the movie and Carly unlocked her car so the two could get in. Carly turned the car on and the two sat in silence as the car warmed up. They finally pulled out of the parking lot and eventually Melanie spoke up.

"What'd you think of the movie?"

"It was okay." Carly shrugged. She didn't want to admit that she hadn't really been paying attention most of the film.

"You seemed distracted. You ok?" Carly glanced over and noticed the concerned look on Melanie face.

"I'm fine. Just a little distracted." Melanie seemed satisfied with that answer, and Carly thought the conversation would end their. She was disappointed when Melanie seemed unwilling to let it go.

"Anything you want to talk about?" Melanie questioned sincerely. Carly was extremely uncomfortable with this line of topic and shook her head. Melanie nodded and was quiet for a little while.

"I keep thinking about Lacey." Melanie said after awhile. Carly wasn't sure how to respond, but was spared the trouble when Melanie continued. "I feel weird because it's not how I expected it to be. I mean it's not that I miss her, or I wonder how she's doing. It's pretty much the opposite, I keep wondering why I'm not thinking about her more often."

Carly kept her eyes on the road but listened intently to her friend. Melanie hadn't actually spoken about the break up before and Carly was interested in hearing what the other women was feeling.

"I mean we were together for almost 2 years, and after the first couple of days I wasn't really thinking about her at all. What does that say about the relationship?" Melanie was starting to get a little worked up. "What does that say about me? I feel like a horrible person that I could just move on so easily."

"You shouldn't be beating yourself up over it. She's the one that broke up with you after all. If anything, that gives you even more of a right to get over it." Carly reassured.

"I don't know. It's just weird." Melanie sighed. "I had pretty much stopped thinking about her altogether until she called last week."

"Is that why you're all worked up?" Carly asked and Melanie nodded in response.

"I hadn't been thinking of her at all and then she calls out of the blue to leave a message saying that she misses me and that she wants to talk."

"Did you meet with her?" Carly frowned as a small knot began to form in her stomach. She was relieved when Melanie shook her head.

"I never even called her back. I kind of feel bad about it."

"Why? It's good that you're getting over her. She's the one that messed up by letting you go. You shouldn't feel guilty for her mistake." Melanie sighed but nodded.

"But that's not why I feel guilty. I think I like someone else, and I've been so caught up with that that I didn't even think to call Lacey back and let her know I'm not interested."

Carly was pulling into her parking space in the parking deck under her building and slammed her foot on the brake a little harder than necessary at Melanie's admission.

"Sorry about that." Carly muttered as she climbed out the car and locked the doors. The two made their way towards the elevator as Carly debated internally on asking about the new person in Melanie's life.

Carly finally decided against it and the two made their way into the elevator and up to Carly's floor in silence. Carly unlocked the door to the apartment, but Melanie stopped her before she could open it. Carly turned to the blonde questioningly.

"Thank you." Melanie said softly.

"No problem. Like I said, I'm always here if you need to talk." Carly smiled and turned to open the door. She was again stopped by Melanie.

"Not for that. I mean not _just _for that." Melanie clarified quickly. "You've done so much for me the last couple of weeks, and I really appreciate it." Carly blushed slightly but made no comments. Melanie looked down slightly before continuing.

"I wasn't really sure how to say thank you but…" She trailed off as she began searching for something in her purse. Seeming to locate it, she looked up at Carly. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand." Melanie instructed.

Carly did as requested, unsure what to expect. After a moment, what felt like a couple slender pieces of paper were placed in her hand. Before Carly had a chance to open her eyes and inspect the objects in her hand she felt warm lips pressed against her own. She was caught off guard and didn't immediately react. After she realized what was happening she began to respond, moving her lips gently against the blonde's. The kiss lasted only a few moments before Melanie pulled away.

Carly slowly opened her eyes. Slightly disoriented it took her a little while to actually look at what was in her hand. When she finally realized what she was holding she squealed in excitement.

"Cuttlefish tickets!" Carly pulled Melanie into a tight hug. "This is awesome. I was dying to go to the reunion concert. How did you get these?"

Melanie shrugged. "You've been talking about it a lot and it seemed like you really wanted to go. I figured it would be a good way to say thank you for everything you've done. I got two tickets so you can take someone with you."

"Why don't you come with me?" Carly immediately responded. That seemed to catch Melanie off guard.

"Are you sure? I figured you'd probably want to take someone else or something."

"I mean you got me the tickets, and I'd love for you to come." Carly answered.

"Ok." Melanie smiled. "It'll be fun, but we should definitely get inside. We've been standing out here for about 15 minutes." Melanie made her way into the apartment and Carly followed, her head and her heart in a jumble of thoughts and emotions.


	7. I Want to Ride the Skies

"This is the last of it." Sam announced as she dropped the last box of Melanie's belongings on the bedroom floor.

"Thanks." Melanie smiled as she opened the box and began pulling out sheets and towels.

"No prob. I'm just glad you're finally gone."

"Sam!" Carly shouted in annoyance.

"What? Just being honest." Sam muttered. "I saw this really cute red-head on my way in. Think I could get her number?"

Carly rolled her eyes "She's the building supervisor."

"So?" Sam shrugged. "I wasn't asking you anyway."

"She's straight and she has a boyfriend." Melanie interjected before the two friends could begin to argue.

"That's not what I asked."

"Leave her alone Sam." Carly instructed.

"Whatever." Sam made her way out of the bedroom and began wandering around the rest of the apartment. Melanie laughed, but Carly still seemed slightly annoyed.

"Well, she's all yours again. Have fun." Melanie smiled and pulled out clean sheets to make the bed. "Can you help me with this?"

Carly sighed as she took one end of the fitted sheet and pulled it over the corners on one side of the bed.

"Can't she be just a little more tactful?"

"Sam? Tact? Ha!"

"You're fridge is completely empty!" Sam's shout echoed into the bedroom from the kitchen.

"See?" She smirked at Carly before calling out a response to Sam. "Well I just moved in, what do you expect?"

"You have a ton of useless shit like towels and sheets, but no ham? No peppy cola? That's just unacceptable!" Melanie laughed at her sister as she pulled out the comforter. "I'm gonna head down to that convenience store across the street and get some fat cakes."

The sound of the door shutting resonated loudly through the apartment as Carly and Melanie finished making the bed.

"I'm guessing you haven't told her about the concert yet."

Carly shook her head. "How'd you know?"

"Well it's been 2 days since I gave them to you and she's still talking to you and hasn't threatened me."

"I don't know how to tell her." Carly shrugged dejectedly.

"Well I got something for her too so maybe she'll take the news a little bit easier whenever you tell her."

Melanie moved towards the closet. She pulled out a large bag and passed it over to Carly. The dark haired girl searched through the bag for a few minutes before her eyes widened in shock.

"You got her an Xbox Infinity? That thing costs like six hundred dollars!"

Melanie laughed as she pulled out another bag. "I also got her the complete Girly Cow collection. All 12 seasons, plus the movie and the three Christmas specials. Remember that contest I entered at Best Buy? I won. I sold the TV and the home entertainment system, and used the money to buy the Xbox and the DVDs."

"And the Cuttlefish tickets?"

"And the Cuttlefish tickets." Melanie confirmed as she moved closer to Carly.

As Melanie encroached on her personal space, Carly's mind began to drift to all the wrong places. Her eye's fixated on the blonde's lips and all sound seemed to have disappeared from the room. She had no idea what the slightly shorter girl was saying, but she couldn't pull her eyes away from the other girl's glossy lips. Carly had been replaying the kiss over and over in her head since it happened, but never with the subject of her memory so close.

"-you like it?" Carly snapped out of her daze only managing to hear the last part of Melanie's question.

"I loved the kiss – I mean gift. Tickets, gift. The tickets were an awesome gift." Carly fumbled to make an intelligible sentence in her distracted state. She looked down feeling extremely anxious that Melanie might be uncomfortable with her unintended admission. After mustering up the courage to look back up at the other girl, Carly noticed an amused smirk on her friend's face.

"So the gift was awesome but the kiss wasn't?" Melanie raised an eyebrow. Carly stuttered as she searched for an appropriate response.

"I mean, it was awesome, but it wasn't the gift. I mean it was as awesome as the gift, but the gift was the tickets. Not that a kiss isn't an awesome gift, cause you're an awesome kisser and –"

Melanie chuckled and leaned in, pressing her lips against Carly's and effectively cutting off the taller girl's rambling. Carly was completely stunned and it took a couple moments before she began to kiss back. She decided it was much better in reality than it had been in her memories.

Butterflies fluttered to life in her stomach as Carly pulled Melanie closer. She felt a shiver run down her spine as the other girl's hand traveled up her side, and she couldn't help but think the feeling was akin to floating. In fact, Carly's head was somewhere in the clouds and she was rapidly coming to the conclusion that she was quite okay with that.

Fortunately, Melanie was still a bit more grounded and heard the door rattle and then slam open announcing Sam's return. She quickly moved away from Carly eliciting a small groan from the taller girl. She smiled at the other girl's reaction, readjusted her clothes, grabbed the previously forgotten bags, and moved into the living room to meet her sister.

After taking a moment to come back down to earth, Carly proceeded into the main living area as well. When she arrived Melanie was putting a bunch of ham and peppy cola in the fridge while Sam sat on the couch flipping through the channels.

"Did you really need to buy all this?" Melanie asked in amazement as she continued to place seemingly endless amounts of the aforementioned foods into her fridge.

"Yeaph." Sam answered around the entire fat cake she had shoved in her mouth moments ago. "I fwighered you'd need fee effentials."

"Swallow your food. And ham, fat cakes, and peppy cola aren't essentials." Melanie chastised as she finished putting the food away and moved onto the couch next to Sam. Sam swallowed the rest of her food and washed it down with peppy cola before snorting her disagreement with her sister.

"What took you so long anyway? It can't possibly take that long to buy ham and junk food." Melanie questioned as she settled into the couch next to Sam.

"I ran into that red-head, Jillian, at that little store. Helped her bring her bags up." Sam grinned. "Turns out she's in one of my classes. She gave me her number so we could hang out and study together. See Carls."

Sam turned to gloat at her friend, but noticed Carly still standing in the opening to the living room staring off in a daze.

"Hey cupcake, you okay?" She questioned in slight concern at her taller friend's glazed over eyes.

Carly quickly snapped out of it and moved towards the couch. She squeezed her way in between the two sisters.

"Yeah, I'm just excited. Your sister got you a gift." Carly smiled.

Sam looked at her sister in disbelief, but Melanie simply nodded handing over the two bags. Never one for patience or civility, Sam snatched the bags out of the other blonde's hands and began digging through.

"Girly Cow!" She yelled in excitement. "The entire set! You are the most awesome sister ever!"

Carly laughed as she pushed the larger bag in her friend's direction. "But wait, there's more!"

Sam quickly tore into the bag and stood speechless as she realized what was inside. Carly watched in amusement.

"I think you broke her." Carly remarked.

Carly's statement broke her out of her trance and Sam jumped on top of her sister, hugging her in gratitude.

"I figured I was _such_ an inconvenience to you the past couple weeks that I'd thank you with something cool. I knew you wanted the new Xbox, so…here you go. Thanks for letting me crash at your place." Melanie hugged her sister back.

Sam slid in between her sister and her best friend and began opening the box. Leaning down to pull a tab open she questioned off offhandedly, "So what'd you get for Carls?"

Carly and Melanie glanced at each other over Sam's head and debated whether or not to tell the other girl. After the extended silence Sam looked up questioningly at the two.

"You did get her something right? Cause if not, that's kind of messed up."

Melanie nodded slightly at Carly and the taller girl sighed. "Well I've been meaning to tell you."

Sam waited expectantly as her best friend stalled for time. She had a sinking feeling in her stomach that told her whatever was coming next was something she wasn't going to want to hear.

"I'm taking her to the Cuttlefish concert next week." Melanie answered softly for Carly.

Sam's eyebrow's knitted in confusion. "Like you gave her tickets?"

"No, like she has two tickets and we're going together." Carly responded.

"Like a date?"

Carly answered before Melanie could say anything. "Yeah, like a date."

Both blondes in the room stared at Carly in shock, but for very different reasons. Melanie was in awe that the dark haired girl might return her affections. However, Sam's shock was quickly turning into anger. Melanie had once again managed to rob Sam of something else important in her life.

She stood up not looking at her sister or her best friend and exited the apartment slamming the door. She returned a few moments later, packed up the Xbox and the DVDs in the larger bag, and then proceeded to slam the door again as she exited.

The room's two remaining occupants stared at the door in silence for a few moments.

"Well that went well." Carly sighed out sarcastically.

Melanie nodded mutely, still in shock at Carly's earlier comment. It did go well… for her at least. Her sister might not talk to her for a while, but she was used to that. What was more important was the fact that she had a date with Carly Shay.


	8. I Want to See You Tonight

Carly knocked on Melanie's apartment door and waited patiently for the other girl to let her in. She had been waiting anxiously for this day the entire week. She wasn't sure if she was more excited about seeing Cuttlefish or this being her first official date with Melanie. Either way, she was extremely nervous and hoped the evening would brighten up her disastrous week.

Melanie opened the door and ushered Carly in. Her hair was still wet and she was clad only in a towel. Clearly she had been expecting the other girl to show up fashionably late, if not on time, but definitely not so early. Carly entered and eyed the blonde in her semi-nude state. Melanie caught Carly's gaze and the brunette averted her glance with a blush.

"Sorry, I wasn't expecting you so early. I'm almost ready. I just have to dry my hair and get dressed. You can either wait here and watch some TV or come into my room. It's up to you." Melanie said as she locked the door behind Carly and headed into her bedroom.

Carly hesitated for a few moments contemplating her choices before finally making a decision and entering the bedroom. In the time it had taken her to decide, Melanie had gotten halfway dressed. The blonde had on a pair of tight fitting denim jeans, a lacy white bra, and was in the process of pulling on a lavender blouse. Carly caught herself staring again and managed to look away before Melanie noticed.

"I've been thinking about this all week." Carly tried at small talk in an attempt to distract herself from staring at her friend.

"I know. Especially after everything this week." Melanie was fully dressed and drying her hair. "Sam hasn't said a word to me all week. She hasn't even asked me for the notes in any of the classes we share."

"I know," Carly sighed. "She's been giving me the silent treatment too. If that was it I'd say she's taking everything pretty well, but it's like she's gone insane. She's like a ticking time bomb."

Melanie nodded as she began to brush and style her now dry hair.

"She flipped out during our Econ class and threw a desk at professor Peterson when he corrected her. And from what Gibby and Freddie have been telling me, she's had just as short a fuse with everything else as well."

"Yeah, I've run into her coming in the building a few times and she always seems like she's about to explode." Melanie responded as she applied her make up. "She's been spending a lot of time upstairs. These walls and floors might as well be paper thin. Jillian and her boyfriend have been arguing nonstop all week. And I'm pretty sure Sam has physically removed him from the building on more than one occasion."

As if on cue, what had been faint talking before escalated into shouting in the apartment above their heads.

"There they go again." Melanie sighed.

Carly looked up as if she could discern the cause of the argument by staring at the ceiling. The white chipped paint providing no answers, she turned her attention back to Melanie.

"What are they arguing about?"

"Well I'm not sure what they're arguing about right now, but most of the week it's been about Jillian spending so much time with Sam. I think he thinks something is –"

Melanie was interrupted by a loud crash and a booming voice that they both clearly recognized as Sam's. They looked at each other briefly before scrambling out the apartment and rushing upstairs. By the time they made it to Jillian's front door, Sam had a tall sandy blonde haired man shoved roughly against the wall.

"If you EVER put your hands on her again I swear I will chop your fucking dick off and feed it to you. If you can't act like a gentleman, I have no problem making you a lady." Sam roughly shoved the boy towards the nearby stairs. He managed to reclaim his balance and avoid tumbling down. He glared at Sam, but seeing the two new women he decided it'd probably be best to leave. He quickly made his way down the stairs and out the building.

The hallway's remaining four occupants stood in silence for a few moments trying to process the events that had just taken place. Seemingly coming out of a daze Sam turned to look at Carly and Melanie as if she had not noticed them before.

"What the hell are you two doing here? Don't you have somewhere else to be?" She stormed off into Jillian's apartment.

"Sorry for all the commotion. Matt and Sam don't get along too well." The red-head frowned at the other two women apologetically. "But after all that I doubt he'll be coming around anymore."

Carly and Melanie stood there mutely, not sure what to say. As the silence began to drag on Jillian spoke up again.

"I'm sorry about everything with Sam, by the way. She told me what's going on and I've been trying to talk some sense into her. She's coming around. She just needs time to get used to the idea of you two together."

Carly wasn't immediately sure how to respond to the comment. Should she be grateful that the other woman was willing to calm her best friend down, or should she feel betrayed that Sam had shared so much personal information with someone she had known for less than a week? Melanie on the other hand was immediately grateful.

"I'm just glad she's talking to someone." The blonde replied sincerely. "I was afraid she might just be bottling everything up. Trust me, if she goes off like that, it's not a pretty sight. Thank you for being there for her."

Carly nodded her agreement after a moment. During the long course of their friendship, Sam had had some notorious explosions of anger, and the aftermath was never particularly pleasant. If this woman was helping to prevent such a reoccurrence she supposed she should be thankful.

Jillian looked as if she was about to say more, but Sam's yelling from inside cut her off before she could start.

"Are we pre-gaming or what? The guys will be here in like 15 minutes and I intend to be completely shit-faced before we get to the party!"

Carly gave Melanie a concerned look. Jillian sighed as she caught the glances between the two women.

"I'll keep an eye on her. Your friends, Freddie and Gibby, will be there too. Between the three of us, I'm sure we can keep her out of trouble."

Carly looked as if she wanted to stay and argue, but Melanie caught her by the wrist and began pulling her away from the apartment.

"We really appreciate everything you're doing." The blonde said to the retreating red-head before turning to her brunette companion who was poised to protest. "We have to get going or we'll be late. I'm sure Freddie can handle this. He's been doing it all week. In fact he's been doing it most of his life. She'll be fine."

Carly sighed as they re-entered Melanie's apartment. Grabbing their jackets and purses the two quickly left again and made their way outside to Carly's car. They tried to ease their minds by talking about everything but Sam. By the time they reached the concert venue, the talking had turned to subtle flirting and fleeting touches.

By the end of the concert Carly's whole body was buzzing and she was again experiencing that pleasant floating feeling. She was sure the tingling sensation coursing throughout her body was more a result of the other woman's closeness then the extremely loud, yet awesome, concert they just attended. They walked back to Carly's car hand in hand and spent the ride back to the blonde's apartment excitedly chatting about the show.

When they reached the apartment door Melanie unlocked it and moved to go in, but Carly hesitated outside. Melanie looked over in confusion. Before Melanie could question her, Carly pulled the shorter girl against her and pressed their lips together. Melanie groaned quietly at the unexpected action. The blonde immediately parted her lips when the taller girl gently nipped at her lower lip, requesting entrance.

The two remained lost in each other for a few more moments before Melanie came to her senses and realized they were still in the hallway outside her door. Pulling back slightly, she grabbed a handful of Carly's shirt and pulled her into the apartment. She pressed the taller girl's back against the door once it was closed and locked and proceeded to take control of the situation.

Carly moaned in appreciation of the other women's dominating personality. As Carly's hands began to roam under Melanie's shirt and up her back, Melanie decided it'd be best to move into the bedroom where they could be more comfortable. She expertly maneuvered them through the apartment and into the bedroom with little difficulty. As she felt the edge of the bed against the back of her knees, she carefully moved onto the bed, managing to pull Carly on top of her without breaking contact.

She deftly removed Carly's jacket, and moved to suck on the brunette's pulse point as her hands slid under the girls top exploring the smooth skin underneath. Carly moaned lightly at the unfamiliar, but pleasant sensations. She was so into the moment that she didn't initially hear the beeping tone coming from her jacket indicating she had a new text message. When the sound came again a minute later she reluctantly pulled away from Melanie intending to check her phone. Realizing what the other girl was about to do Melanie quickly rolled the other girl under her, reversing their previous positions.

"Ignore it." Melanie stated as she slid Carly's shirt up a few inches and dropped light kisses on the newly exposed skin. "Please?"

Carly gave into the pleading tone and the overwhelming sensations and dropped her head back onto the bed. Carly began to lose herself in the pleasant feelings the other girl was creating. Melanie began exploring the taller girl's body, easily finding her ticklish spots, and recognizing the more sensitive spots from the way the brunette groaned quietly when hands or lips brushed over certain areas.

Carly was once again brought out of her daze as her phone went off again, this time a phone call instead of a message. She again broke contact from the woman above her, and as the fogginess cleared from her thoughts, she recognized the song blaring from her phone as Sam's personal ringtone. She regrettably shifted from under the shorter woman and began digging through her pocket for her phone, the phone ceasing its ringing right as she managed to locate it.

Flipping the phone open she realized she had over 30 text messages as well as a multitude of missed calls. She frowned as she realized that her phone had probably been drowned out by the music during the loud concert. The first text message revealed an angry text from Sam about interfering at Jillian's apartment earlier in the evening. She quickly discovered that several of the following text messages contained the same thing except in increasingly less intelligible words as Sam, presumably, became more intoxicated.

Shifting through to see if any of the other texts had anything relevant she was caught off guard when one text stood out. The message was simple: "I SRPY PS FARGVE M." Which Carly assumed to mean "I'm sorry please, forgive me." This was followed by: "I CQNT HLP T," I can't help it. There were a bunch of completely undecipherable messages but the last two she had deliberately ignored were very clear: "TLK TO ME PLS" and the most recent "I THNK IM N LUV W. U"

Carly quietly stared in shock at the phone, not sure how to feel. The phone once again made an alert noise, interrupting her thoughts. This time, however, it was a voicemail.

"Is everything okay?" Melanie asked, looking over at Carly slightly worried.

Carly shrugged her shoulders as she dialed her voicemail. There was a lot of loud noise and music in the background at first but after a moment the noise faded into the background and Carly could hear wind blowing through the phone indicating the person was now outside.

"Carly?" Sam drunkenly questioned through the phone quietly, remaining silent for a few moments after. "I guess this is your voicemail. I just needed to talk to you. You must be busy… Uh… I guess enjoy the date."

Although the words were somewhat stunted and slurred she understood her intoxicated friend clearly. The message was silent for a minute or so, but the faint music in the background and the wind occasionally rustling through the phone indicated Sam hadn't hung up the phone immediately. Carly was about to just end the message when Sam voice came across the line again.

"I think I'm in lo–" Sam's voice was cut off as the automated voicemail system announced that that was the end of the message. The message must have been cut off due to its length.

Carly sat down heavily on the bed. It felt like an anvil had been tied around her heart and then unceremoniously dropped into her stomach. She stared at the phone for a few seconds before deciding to call her friend back. The phone rang only once before it was picked up.

"CARLY?" Sam shouted into the phone over the loud music, she continued before Carly could respond. "HOLD ON!"

The music became dim again as Sam presumably moved outside or into another room. After some shuffling around Sam's voice came clearly through the phone.

"Hey."

"Hey." Carly replied softly. "You called?"

"Yeah. I just…" Sam trailed off, and Carly was sure she could hear soft sobbing in the background. Was that Sam? The brunette immediately became worried.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Sam's voice came back slightly choked. "I just… I need you. I want to see you tonight. Please? Can you come get me?"

There was more choked sobbing as Sam gave Carly the directions and quickly hung up the phone.

Carly wasn't sure what to do. Should she abruptly end her wonderful evening with Melanie to have a potentially heartbreaking conversation with her best friend? They could always talk tomorrow right? She didn't have to leave right now. Freddie and Jillian could take care of Sam. But what had Sam been about to say in the message?

Carly's train of thought was broken when Melanie's placed a hand on her shoulder. Caught off guard she immediately shrugged the hand off. Not catching the hurt look that passed across Melanie's face, Carly made her decision. She got up and grabbed her coat.

"I'm sorry. I have to go."


	9. In My Sweet Dreams

**Sorry for the delay... again. I have no real excuse this time, life just sort of got in the way. None the less, I'm back with a long chapter as a bribe for your forgiveness. The rating for this chapter is moved to M for the poorly written smut that occurs near the end. Feel free to skip past that part if you're not interested or otherwise unable to read for whatever reason. It's marked off with a warning and double lines. It won't be a problem if you skip it. You won't be missing much. In fact, you might think the chapter flows better without it. Either way, feedback on the story (and specifically on the more graphic part of this chapter) would be much appreciated. There's always room for me to make further improvement and constructive criticism is always welcome.**

**And now, onto the chapter...**

* * *

Carly drove through the unfamiliar neighborhood trying to locate the address Sam had given her. When she finally pulled up to the house, she could make out two people sitting on the steps outside. After parking the car and making her way closer she was able to identify the two people as Sam and Gibby. Gibby was talking animatedly while the blonde had her head cradled in her arms. Gibby trailed off as he noticed Carly slowly walking up the path.

"Hey." Carly said softly coming to a stop in front of her two friends. "What're you guys talking about?"

"The glory days." Sam's slurred reply was muffled by her arms.

Gibby decide to elaborate on Sam's answer. "We were talking about that wrestling match when Sam beat that kid that was ranked like number 3 in the state."

Carly laughed. Sam and Gibby had developed an odd friendship during their years on the wrestling team together. Though Sam probably wouldn't readily admit it to anyone, she had a big soft spot for him. Speaking of odd…

"Gibby… You have no clothes on…" Carly laughed.

Gibby looked down as if noticing for the first time that he was clad only in pink boxer briefs and a pair of socks.

"So?" He shrugged.

Carly couldn't help laughing again. Gibby had stopped taking his A.D.D. medication after he learned that it had been stunting his growth. He grew almost a foot taller, and with the help of wrestling training, he had become muscular and well toned. Despite the physical change, Gibby's personality hadn't changed very much. The biggest difference was that now people actually enjoyed his fondness for removing his shirt.

The three friends lapsed into an awkward silence. After a few moments Gibby abruptly stood up.

"I feel like dancing!" He saluted Sam and smiled at Carly before disappearing back inside of the house. Carly chuckled at the unexpected outburst before turning to Sam.

"So… You still wanna go, or are you feeling an overwhelming desire to dance too?"

Carly began to feel nervous when Sam didn't respond at first, but sighed in relief as Sam slowly began to stand up. She watched as Sam made her way towards the car and climbed in before leaning her head against the window and closing her eyes. Carly remained outside the house in a slight daze before realizing she should probably get her friend back to their apartment. She quickly got in the car and began the drive home.

As she drove, Carly would occasionally glance at her blonde friend. She had been unsuccessfully trying to figure out a good way to ask about the messages. When she finally resolved to just be blunt and ask directly she realized that they were more or less home and sighed in frustration.

Pulling into a parking space, she got out and moved around to help Sam out the car and up to their apartment. Once inside, she unceremoniously dropped her friend on the couch. Slightly out of breath from practically dragging the blonde, she made her way into the kitchen. Filling a glass with water she moved back into the living room and dropped down onto the couch next to her friend.

"Here. You need to drink some water." Sam groaned as she glanced at the glass in Carly's hand.

"Don't wanna."

Carly laughed at her friend's childish response. "C'mon, Sam. If you don't drink some water you're gonna have a really bad hang over in the morning."

"Or I could just keep drinking. Then I won't have a hangover AND I get to stay drunk."

"Sam!" Carly snorted in amusement, "Stop being difficult and just drink it!"

Sam grumbled some more, but did as she was told. After placing the empty glass on the table she leaned her head onto Carly's shoulder. The two sat in silence for a little while, both lost in their own thoughts.

"You always take care of me." Sam's quiet admission caught Carly off guard. "I mean I'm always doing really stupid stuff, but no matter what I do you're always there for me."

Carly smiled and kissed her friend on the forehead. "I'm always gonna be here for you. That's what best friends are for."

"Guess I haven't really been a good best friend." Sam mumbled sadly.

"Aww, what's a week of silence between friends." Carly joked in an attempt to lift her friend's mood.

"I'm really sorry about that; I'm sorry about everything. I just got so jealous. I mean Melanie gets everything! I just don't want her to have you. I had you first!" Sam had begun quietly but her voice grew louder as she went on.

"I'm tired of her getting everything. She can't have you. I have you!" Sam continued her semi-drunken rant as her anger grew. Before she could say more, Carly interrupted.

"You already have me. You're my best friend and no matter what happens with Melanie, or anyone for that matter, that'll never change." The dark haired girl said softly. "There's nothing to worry about. You got me."

"Forever?" The quiet pleading in her best friend's voice made her heart beat faster.

"Forever and ever." The brunette assured.

Sam nestled her head further into Carly's shoulder. "Thanks cupcake."

Carly smiled and pulled the shorter girl closer as the pair fell into a comfortable silence. After a few moments Carly realized that the conversation had given her a perfect opening to ask the questions that had been plaguing her most of the night.

"Hey Sam. I –"

"I feel dirty." Sam announced before Carly could continue. "I want to take a shower."

Sam tried to stand and managed to remain on her feet for a few moments before falling back on the couch.

"The floor is moving." Sam laughed.

Carly sighed before helping her friend up. "C'mon, You. I'll help you get clean."

She led her friend into the bathroom and sat her on the closed toilet lid. After making sure the blonde could keep her balance enough not to fall off the seat, she began turning the knobs to get the right temperature. She struggled to get the water somewhere between third degree burn hot and Antarctica cold, occasionally making sure her friend was still okay. The other girl's eyes were closed and she was swaying slightly, but she seemed in no danger of falling.

"How much did you drink?" Carly questioned softly as she tried to figure out how hung over and cranky her best friend would be in the morning.

"I dunno. I lost count during the drinking contest with Malcolm."

"Malcolm! The football player?" Carly turned to Sam shouting in shock. "That guy is a linebacker. He weighs like 250 pounds!"

"Ha! I drank him under the table."

"Get in the tub." Carly sighed shaking her head. "Don't die. I'll be right back."

Carly left the bathroom as Sam began stripping her clothes off. A few moments after she left the bathroom she heard a loud splash and laughter. Carly groaned realizing her friend was probably making a huge mess.

She sighed again once back in the bathroom. The bathmat was soaked and there were splashes of water on the wall, but the floor and the rest of the bathroom looked relatively dry. She looked up after feeling a drop of cold water on her head.

"Sam!" Carly cried in exasperation, "How did you manage to get water on the CEILING?"

Sam mumbled a response and Carly decided it wasn't worth the effort of arguing. She placed the towel and clothes she had grabbed on the toilet and leaned against the door, sliding down until she was comfortably seated on the floor.

"You know," Carly began speaking at the shower curtain blocking her friend from view, "you're like a puppy. At first you were all cute and adorable, but then you started running around barking at people and making messes."

Carly laughed quietly to herself but became concerned when her friend didn't respond.

"Sam."

Carly waited for a response, and when she didn't receive one she tried again. When her friend still didn't answer she scrambled to her feet in worry and pulled back the shower curtain. The blonde's eyes were closed and her head was mostly submerged with only her nostrils above the waterline.

"SAM!" Carly shouted in fear.

Sam jerked her head up from the water in alarm. Looking around worriedly for a second she finally settled her eyes on her brunette friend.

"What are ya yelling for?" The blonde yelled in agitation.

"You weren't answering me. I thought you were drowning!"

"I was seeing what it was like to be a fish." Sam then puckered her lips and made a fish face. "You ever wonder what it would be like to be a fish?"

"Get out the tub and get dressed. I'll be in my room." Carly's heart was still racing as she headed into her room.

Sam quietly entered the room a few minutes later. She climbed into the bed and curled up next to her best friend. Carly sighed and wrapped her arm around the shorter girl. The blonde snuggled closer and nuzzled her head in the crook of the taller girl's neck.

"Are you mad at me?" The blonde questioned softly.

Carly shook her head. "I was just worried. You scared me."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Carly said as she began running her hand through the other girl's hair.

They remained quiet for few minutes until Sam began to giggle. She tried to hold it in at first, but quickly broke into full out laughter.

"What's so funny?" Carly chuckled at her friend's random behaviour.

"I'm REALLY drunk." They both laughed louder at that.

"Why didn't you just tell me about your date from the beginning?" Sam questioned as their laughter subsided and she had settled back down against the other girl.

"I dunno. I guess I was scared of how you'd respond."

"I guess that makes sense." Sam said as she began to rub Carly's stomach. "We promised no more secrets."

Carly laughed. "Yeah, after I found out you kissed Freddie."

"Don't remind me." Sam groaned.

Carly laughed harder. "You were so high off that laughing gas."

"I said don't remind me." Sam slapped Carly lightly on her thigh for making fun of her.

"I still can't believe you two dated."

"Yeah I know." Sam said softly. She was drifting off to asleep, the alcohol taking effect and dragging her into dreamland. "I slept with Freddie."

Carly laughed softly. She could tell her friend was nodding off. "Yeah I remember, you ran into my apartment in your bra and boxers right afterwards screaming that you were a lesbian. And then you started dating that cheerleader a few days later."

Carly could feel Sam's head shake against her neck, before the blonde mumbled practically asleep. "I slept with him tonight at the party."

Carly laughed before stopping as she fully realized what her friend had said. "Wait, what?"

She turned to look at her friend, but the blonde was out cold. She knew it would be pointless to try to wake her up. When Sam passes out, not even being struck by lightening could wake her.

Carly's thoughts began to race as she tried to process this new bit of information. She groaned when she realized that she hadn't even talked to Sam about the messages. She rubbed her face with the hand that wasn't wrapped around her blonde friend and resolved to calm her racing thoughts and deal with everything in the morning.

As she relaxed and let her mind wander she began thinking about Melanie and their activities earlier in the evening. She sighed suddenly reminded of her unresolved sexual frustration. The sigh turned into a moan as the hand that had been resting on her stomach began moving down her body slowly.

Carly held her breath unsure were the hand would settle, but let it out in relief when it stopped at her thigh. She inhaled sharply, however, when the hand began to rub in soft circles. She quickly glanced at her friends face and determined the other girl was really asleep and definitely not doing it on purpose.

The brunette groaned as the gentle touch brought the earlier frustration back to the forefront of her attention. Trying to distract herself in order to get to sleep, she began recalling a lecture from her integrated media class. The technique worked and, despite the hand on her thigh, she managed to fall asleep.

* * *

"So you and Sam worked things out?" Melanie questioned as they entered Carly's and Spencer's apartment.

The dark haired girl nodded as she closed and locked the front door. "Yeah, we talked about it and things are okay now. I had to agree to buy all of her ham for the next 3 months, though."

"You already buy all of her ham. In fact, you buy all of her food."

Carly smiled. "I know. So it's a win-win for me."

"More like a win-win for Sam. You're buying _her_ food."

"You're right." Carly laughed out loud, "I didn't think about that."

Melanie shook her head and laughed as the pair climbed the stairs heading for Carly's room. "Thanks for driving me all the way back to Seattle to visit my mom in the hospital."

"No problem I had to come back anyway to congratulate Spencer and Sasha on their engagement."

"I can't believe your brother is gonna marry the pack rat queen."

"And I can't believe Sam didn't come out here with us. I mean if not for your mom, at least for Spencer and Sasha."

"Well her and Harper finally have a gig. And a paying one at that." Melanie laughed as she walked into Carly's room and lounged on the bed. "I doubt she'd miss out on that because mom broke her ankle doing the Macarena."

Carly chuckled in response as she sprawled out on her bed next to Melanie. "So what do you want to do? Spencer and Sasha left for Spokane this afternoon to tell her parents about the engagement. They probably won't be back until tomorrow after we leave."

"Well I have a couple of ideas." Melanie rolled to the side and propped herself up, hovering over Carly. "I think we have some unfinished business."

Carly swallowed nervously as Melanie's long blonde hair cascaded down to curtain their faces. Caught off guard by her friend's boldness, she was unable to react. She gulped as a slow predatory smile worked its way across the shorter woman's face. When she didn't get a response, Melanie leaned down to capture the taller woman's lips. After a moment of hesitation Carly responded, grabbing a fistful of Melanie's shirt and pulling the blonde woman down fully on top of her.

* * *

WARNING: Mature Material Ahead. Read at your own risk. Move to the next marked off area if uninterested in reading further.

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As the kiss grew more heated, Carly began to unconsciously grind her body into the blonde. Melanie moaned against Carly's lips and her hand moved from its place on the brunette's hip to explore the smooth skin under her shirt. Carly's hands found their way under the blonde's shirt, traveling the length of the shorter woman's back.

Both women quickly realized their clothes were getting in the way. Melanie took initiative and pulled away causing Carly to groan in protest. Her groan became a smile of appreciation as she realized the blonde was pulling her shirt over her head. She leaned forward, quickly removing her shirt as well. Immediately after the shirts were gone Melanie reclaimed Carly's lips.

Melanie reveled in the newly revealed flesh, moving her lips away from Carly's to explore the expanse of the woman's body. Carly trembled as soft lips shifted focus from the sensitive spot behind her right ear to travel slowly down her neck. She hummed in appreciation as Melanie began to suck strongly at her pulse point.

Melanie's hands and lips traveled lower on Carly's body reaching her bra clad breasts. Her hands lingered there as her lips continued down, dropping light kisses on the brunette's midsection. She began squeezing the supple mounds of flesh in her hands, occasionally pinching the rapidly hardening nipples. Growing frustrated with the lacy barrier, she moved her hands under Carly, quickly unclasping her bra. Removing the final article of clothing separating her from unhindered access to the other woman's body, Melanie paused to appreciate the beauty beneath her.

Carly began to feel self conscious, exposed in front of the other woman. As her arms moved to cover her chest, Melanie quickly pinned them to the bed, leaning down to capture a nipple in her mouth. Carly gasped and arched into the body above her.

Encouraged by Carly's reaction, Melanie began trailing a hand down the women's side, over her abdomen, and stopped low on the other woman's hip, hesitating to travel beyond Carly's waistband. Releasing the nipple being held captive in her mouth, Melanie glanced up at Carly, silently asking permission.

Carly was broken out of her lust induced haze when the teasing movement ceased to linger on her body. Seeking out Melanie's eyes to silently question the women's stillness, he heart stopped and then sped forward. Melanie was actually waiting for her to give the okay. Despite how worked up they both were, Melanie was still considerate enough to make sure Carly was okay.

The action made Carly even more desperate for the other woman's touch. Melanie broke into a grin at the slight nod and smile of the other woman. Needing no further encouragement, Melanie's hand dipped below Carly's waistband and sought out her most intimate areas. Melanie's fingers slid through Carly's wetness, quickly finding her pulsing clit. She rubbed softly, causing Carly to buck her hips upward and let out of a soft whimper.

Melanie toyed with the idea of teasing the woman below her until she was begging for relief from the torture, but decided against it once she realized Carly was already gripping the sheets tightly, her knuckles ashen white from clenching.

"Please… I just… right… please…" Carly tried to form a coherent sentence, but only succeeded in begging the woman above her for release. Melanie obliged and began rubbing the hard nub beneath her finger in firm, tight circles. Carly began panting, her hips jerking to the rhythm Melanie set.

Carly's face screwed up in pleasurable pain as she could feel her orgasm bubbling to the forefront. She opened her mouth in a silent scream as she tumbled over the edge.

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And now back to your (ir)regularly scheduled fic.

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Carly sat up abruptly and gasped for air as she looked around trying to determine where she was. As she realized she was in her bedroom, the details of her dream slowly seeped into her consciousness. She gasped for breath and twisted slightly in the bed, feeling a dull ache between her legs. Did she just…

She shifted her legs further and felt a pleasant soreness between her thighs. Here face flushed with embarrassment. She shouldn't be having those types of dreams! Despite what had occurred earlier in the night with Melanie, Carly was still unsure if beginning a romantic relationship with her best friend's sister was a smart move.

As she tried to work through the question in her mind, her eyes rolled back, fluttered shut, and her mouth involuntarily emitted a small moan. Sam's hand was cupping Carly's sex, and the blonde's hand had unconsciously clenched in her sleep, sending a wave of pleasure through the brunette.

Carly put two and two together and realized her wet dream had been unintentionally aided by her best friend. She tried to slip out of the blonde's grasp, but whimpered again when Sam tightened her hold, pulling Carly closer and shifting her grasp on Carly's nether regions, Sam's palm periodically rubbing firmly against Carly's overly sensitive clit.

Groaning in frustration Carly's head fell back against her pillow. Her best friend had unintentionally inspired a wet dream about her sister that had led to a pretty powerful orgasm. Life couldn't get more complicated, Carly thought, as she realized she should probably deal with the multitude of issues in her love life as soon as possible.

Carly turned to Sam, wishing to talk through her troubles with her best friend as she always had, but considering that the blonde was contributing to her confusion, she probably wouldn't be the best person to sort it out with. Her mind quickly switched to her next best option, Melanie, but Carly quickly dismissed her other friend for the same reason. Grabbing her cell phone off the night stand next to the bed, Carly began dialing Freddie's number automatically. If she couldn't talk to her two best female friends, her other best friend was clearly the best option. Sam snuggled farther into the warmth of Carly's body, and the blonde's earlier admission about their somewhat nerdy, mutual friend, suddenly came back to her. She wasn't sure if it was true yet, but figured it'd be best to just avoid Freddie until she had a clear idea of what occurred between him and Sam last night.

Sighing in frustration she stared at her phone in anger for several minutes until an idea dawned on her. Quickly dialing the number she smiled when the desired person actually answered the call.

"Yes I realize it's 4 in the morning… It's important." Carly listened patiently to the person on the other end of the phone rant about calling so early. "But I need to talk to someone."

"No I can't talk to any of them because it's _about_ them. No, it can't wait." The brunette sighed in exasperation..

"Please?" Carly wasn't above begging.

She broke into a grin when her friend finally caved.

"Great! You're amazing, and I love you forever." After the other person's brief reply she continued.

"Whatever is easiest for you... You know what, why don't we just meet at that diner. It's right across the street from your apartment. You won't even have to walk far." Carly almost laughed at herself for sounding so excited. She hung up the phone to figure out how to disentangle her self from the arms of the bed's other occupant. Finally succeeding after numerous tries and slow shimmying, she glanced at the clock. Realizing she was supposed to be meeting her friend in only a few minutes, she pulled on pants, a hoodie, and shoes. She grabbed her keys and made her way out of the apartment with a grin on her face. Maybe she'd be able to make her sweet dreams a reality.

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**So... That's chapter 9. I guess it kinda sucks that I took so long to post this chapter and then ended it with a slight cliff hanger. I'll try to post the next chapter in a more timely manner.**

**And if you guys want to make guesses at who Carly is meeting, feel free. In fact, if anyone can guess correctly, I'll give them a cookie... or maybe I'll take a special fic request... whichever they'd prefer (I'd take the cookie personally, but that's just me...). Until next time folks!**


	10. Decisions

Carly fiddled with her napkin nervously as she waited. She stared down into her untouched cup of coffee and then glanced around the diner for the umpteenth time. When the bells above the diner's door jingled, signaling a person's entrance, she quickly focused her gaze on the door and the dark haired woman walking in. Her nervousness eased slightly as the woman quickly located Carly and made her way over to the table. Carly smiled as the woman sat down, but her friend still seemed half asleep and not in the most pleasant of moods.

"This is the first Saturday in two and a half months that I haven't had to work or train. _Please_, tell me you have a _really_ good reason for waking me up this early."

The nervous knot in Carly's stomach retightened at the annoyed look Shelby Marx was giving her. She looked down into the coffee she was now clutching tightly between her clasped hands. She lifted the cup to her lips and took a long sip that warmed her insides and calmed her slightly.

"Would you like some coffee?" Carly offered in lieu of an explanation for their early morning meeting. "They have this delicious French Vanilla and chocolate blend. I know it sounds weird, but it's really amazing."

Carly offered the other women her cup. Shelby stared at it longingly for a moment before shaking her head. As much as she'd enjoy the flavor and the caffeine at the moment, her trainers had put her on a strict diet to prepare her for her next match, and hard caffeine was all but forbidden.

"I can't." Shelby finally sighed. "My trainers flipped out after I had like six cups of coffee and eight bottles of 5 Hour Energy before my last fight. I was bouncing off the walls."

"But didn't you KO that girl in eleven seconds?"

"Yeah, but I completely crashed like five minutes later. They were worried that it could have happened during the fight. So they have me on a strict regimen in preparation for the fight in two weeks. In other words, no good stuff." Shelby frowned.

"I'll get you something else then. It's the least I can do after waking you up so early." Carly waved the waitress over.

Carly declined the menu when the waitress reached the table. She ordered a bowl of fresh fruit and a cranberry blueberry banana nut muffin. Shelby gave the shorter girl a weird look.

"What? I see nothing wrong with having my banana nut muffin crammed full of blueberry and cranberry goodness." At the further incredulous look from her friend Carly huffed. "If it wasn't good people wouldn't buy it and the diner wouldn't offer it. Stop worrying about my food and order your own!"

With that Shelby began scanning the menu. Despite it being located directly across the street from her apartment building, she had only ever eaten in the small diner once or twice. She was regretting it now as the menu offered a wide array of delicious sounding items. Most of which she wasn't allowed to eat at the moment. Sighing in disappointment she finally settled on her order.

"I'll have scrambled egg whites and a bran muffin."

"Anything to drink?" The waitress questioned as she wrote down the order.

"Soy milk, water, and if you have it 100% cranberry juice." Shelby replied handing her menu to the waitress.

"You mean the really tart stuff without the sugar?" The waitress looked up as Shelby nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure we got it."

With that, the waitress walked off to put in their order and Carly and Shelby settled into an awkward silence. Shelby stared pointedly at Carly, still waiting for an explanation for the early morning wake up call. Carly did her best to look every where but at Shelby, and continued to take large gulps of her coffee to avoid having to speak.

"Look, Shay, I appreciate you offering me breakfast and all, but at some point are you gonna explain why I'm here?" Carly lifted the coffee mug to her lips again in an attempt to stall, but Shelby quickly grabbed her wrist, stopping her. "Don't try that. I know there's nothing left in there. You've been sipping at an empty cup for three minutes."

Carly guiltily put the cup down, flushing red in embarrassment at being caught. Sighing she tried to determine where she should begin her story. The waitress stopped by the table, dropping off Shelby's drinks, refilling Carly's coffee, then disappearing into the back again. Carly sighed.

"You know how sometimes you know someone for a long time, and you're really good friends, and you think 'oh, this is an amazing friendship, nothing will ever change' and then one day something _does _change, and you suddenly realize you're jealous of the ham she's eating because you want her to look at _you_ like you're the only thing in the room and she wants to devour you, but you know it's stupid becau-"

"Please don't tell me you dragged me out of my nice warm bed at 4 in the morning just to tell me you're in love with Sam." Shelby interrupted.

Carly's mouth snapped shut and her eyed widened in shock.

"You knew?" She shrieked. She grew flustered at Shelby's smirk. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"S'not my place to tell you about how you feel" Shelby shrugged as she gulped down half her glass of water.

"But how'd you…I mean…how long…huh?" Carly seemed completely perplexed at how the champion fighter could so easily discern the feelings she was still having trouble comprehending herself.

"C'mon, everyone can see it. Everybody knows. Well except for Sam. She's probably too busy thinking you shit ham and fat cakes, and that the sun rises and falls at your beck and call to realize you feel the same way she does." She poured some of her cranberry juice into her half glass of water and stirred before taking another sip.

Carly was shocked into silence. Luckily, the food arrived, covering for her current inability to speak, and giving her a couple moments to collect her thoughts. Carly plucked a grape out of the bowl and chewed on it slowly before finally speaking again.

"Well I wish someone would have told me." She sulked. "It would probably make this all a lot less complicated."

Shelby raised an eyebrow, but continued to stare pointedly at the former webshow host, silently urging her to continue. Carly sighed in response.

"A couple of months ago Melanie moved in with me and Sam after her girlfriend broke up with her and kicked her out."

"I heard about that." Shelby nodded. "Heard it got pretty ugly between them."

Carly shrugged, not to clear on the rumors that had been spread about the break up. "Well it was nice to finally have a girl around that, you know, actually acts like a girl. She cooked, she cleaned, she watched chick flicks with me. I dunno, it was kinda nice."

"And you started to have a crush on her." Shelby guessed. Carly looked down as she nodded.

"Well yeah, I mean it was like having Sam, but without all the annoying Sam bits. I mean, I didn't think it'd go anywhere. I didn't think she'd actually like me back or anything."

"But she does." Shelby half stated, half asked, around a mouthful of scrambled eggs.

"Yeah, it totally threw me for a loop. And then suddenly we're going on a date and Sam is pissed at the whole world." Carly picked at her muffin, eating small bits as she spoke.

"Is that why she threw that desk at Peterson?" Shelby laughed after taking another sip of her cranberry water mix. Carly nodded with a frown.

"She's been mad all week since she found out. And I was having an amazing time with Mel last night, but then Sam called and interrupted."

"Interrupted?" Shelby paused with her fork halfway to her mouth. As Carly's face reddened, Shelby's eye's went wide and she put her fork down in shock. "You were having sex with your best friemfs twimph?"

The end of Shelby's loud exclamation was garbles as Carly shoved the fighter's bran muffin almost entirely in her mouth. Carly glanced around nervously. The diners other two customers were paying no attention to the two brunettes, but Carly still felt incredibly embarrassed.

"Could you say it any louder?" She said sitting back fully in her seat. "I don't think the cook heard you in the back."

Shelby was busy trying to swallow while laughing and choking at the same time. When she finally managed to clear her passageway, she sipped from her milk to wash everything down.

"So…" She questioned wiggling her eyebrows at Carly.

Carly threw a grape at the other girl before taking another bite of muffin, chasintg it with the delicious coffee mixture.

"Well we weren't having sex." Carly muttered, annoyed at the other girl's amusement. "We were just…getting to know each other better."

The shorter girl's phrasing sent Shelby into another fit of laughter. By the time she had managed to control it, Carly was glaring at her.

"Okay, so Sam interrupted. Did she like burst in or something?"

"No. She called. A lot. The whole night. She was really drunk. So I went and got her." Carly stammered.

"So you left your new crush, to chase after the old crush that doesn't realize you're crushing on her."

"Well I think she was trying to tell me she loves me…" Carly whispered. She finished her muffin and began playing with a strawberry from her fruit bowl.

"Wait… Melanie or Sam?"

"Sam. She was saying something in the voice mail but it got cut off."

"So you picked her up and she spilled her guts. What do you need me for? Shouldn't you guys be at your apartment screwing like rabbits?" Shelby questioned confused. She finished her food and gazed at Carly in curiosity.

"Well she did spill her guts… Not about the message though. She said she slept with Freddie last night."

"Wow…" Shelby was stunned. "So what are you gonna do?"

"That's why I called you! I'm confused. I mean, I know that I love Sam." Carly paused in frustration. "And I'm not sure how it happened, but I might be crazy, cause I think I'm falling for Melanie now, too." Carly ate the last peace of fruit and pushed the empty bowl away despondently. Shelby finished off the last of her juice before responding.

"Well Sam came first, right? She'd be the obvious choice."

"But she flirts with everyone! And she always cheats and she'll break my heart!" Carly clamped a hand over her mouth not meaning to have exposed so much.

"I don't think she's capable of breaking your heart." Shelby attempted to console.

"But she slept with Freddie." Carly muttered in anger.

"And you almost slept with her sister." Shelby teased. At Carly's blush Shelby's face twisted in amusement. "What are you not telling me?"

"I had a dream." The shorter brunette mumbled.

"People have dreams all the time. What's your poi-" She paused as it dawned on her. "Oh. OH! That kind of dream." Shelby smirked. "Was it about Melanie or was it about Sam."

Carly was about to answer, but snapped her mouth shut when the waitress came by the table to drop off the bill. Once the waitress was well out of earshot, Carly leaned forward to talk to Shelby in a low whisper.

"Well that's the thing. It was about Melanie, but I woke up and it was Sam touching me." Before Shelby could interrupt, Carly clarified. "Not intentionally, she was passed out. She was doing it in her sleep."

Shelby made a face. "Well looks like you've got a really complicated situation on your hands."

"I know!" Carly flopped back into her seat exasperated. "You're supposed to be helping me!"

Shelby sat in silence for a few minutes, but it felt like forever to Carly. Finally having settled on a response, she looked up at the other girl.

"Well if you're really afraid of getting hurt by Sam, I'd say you should see how things go with Melanie. I mean, Sam's your best friend, and I'm sure your friendship could withstand you dating her sister. I don't know if it could hold if she broke your heart though." Shelby shrugged. "But I'm not a lover. I'm a fighter. So I don't know if my advice is worth much."

Despite Shelby's misgivings, Carly seemed to be satisfied with the response. She dug in her coat and pulled out enough money to pay the bill and a small tip.

"I don't want to lose my best friend." She decided as she stood up. "And I think things can work with Melanie."

Carly nodded firmly, set in her decision. She'd talk to Sam, whenever the girl managed to drag herself out of bed, and explain things to her. Then she'd have to go talk to Melanie, and hope the other girl was as willing to jump into this new relationship as she was.

The two brunettes made their way to the door, but Shelby paused before walking through. She turned to Carly with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Now that you've chosen Melanie, can I have Sam? I mean you were the only thing standing in the way before, but if you want the twin…" Shelby trailed off with a devious smile.

"Your almost as bad as Sam" Carly growled in frustration as she walked through the door.

"That's not a no!" Shelby laughed as she followed her friend out of the diner.


	11. Say What You Mean

Carly looked away from the TV to glance at the clock again. It was almost 1pm. Having made a decision about her love life, she was initially nervous when she had returned home to the apartment she shared with her best friend. After finding her best friend still completely knocked out in her bed, however, she had felt slightly relieved. Her nerves had begun to get the better of her as she did little things around the apartment; picking up dirty clothes, washing dishes, and finally fixing a small breakfast for Sam so perhaps the other girl would be slightly distracted by bacon when Carly broke the news to her. But now, 4 hours later, Carly's nervousness had slowly but surely grown into annoyance.

The brunette once again turned to look at the clock. Sighing, she reached for her cell phone and quickly sent a text to Melanie, asking if they could talk. As she waited for the reply, her nerves began to override her anger again. Carly stared so intently at the phone that she was startled when it began buzzing a few minutes later. Picking it up reluctantly, she checked her texts to reveal Melanie's reply. The blonde haired object of her affection had suggested they meet for lunch in a half an hour.

The former web host pondered how she should reply. She glanced at the hallway her best friend seemed determined not to emerge from and sighed. Quickly typing back a response she flipped off the TV and grabbed her coat. She had just about a half an hour to figure out how to say what she was feeling to the other woman.

The 10 minute car ride was spent thinking of ways to begin the conversation, but every half formed idea was quickly thrown out. Once parked outside the restaurant she hoped she could use the remaining 15 to 20 minutes before Melanie's arrival to organize her thoughts.

Her hopes were dashed when she entered the restaurant and found the blonde haired beauty already seated in a quite corner. She groaned, completely unprepared for this discussion, but made her way over to the table nonetheless. When Carly sat down, Melanie looked up with a gentle smile, but her blue eyes revealed the sadness she was trying to bury inside.

"I ordered you a peppy cola. I hope that's okay." Melanie said softly.

Carly nodded but was having trouble forming words. Carly was struggling to deal with the obvious sadness the shorter girl was trying to hide. Reality hit the brunette like a bucket of ice cold water. She hadn't realized how much the other girl felt for her, and was just now grasping the fact that she had really hurt Melanie last night.

"I'm sorry." The weight of Carly's guilt forced the words out before she realized it.

"For what?" Melanie glanced up from the menu she was now surveying.

"For everything last night." Carly picked up her menu and began to scan it as she struggled to respond. Her eyes now glued to the menu, Carly missed the pained look that flashed on her companion's face.

"It's alright. You don't have to be sorry." Melanie responded, and Carly sighed in relief. "I understand. I shouldn't have taken last night for more than it was. I know it wasn't really as big a deal for you; I mean I've always known how you felt about Sam, but I figured maybe…"

As the blonde trailed off, Carly looked up in shock. Apparently, as Shelby had said, her feelings for her best friend were obvious to everyone, excluding herself and said best friend. Then as realization kicked in, Carly stared horrified at the woman across the table from her. Melanie thought she was apologizing for taking her on the date. She rushed to clarify before the blonde could continue.

"I meant for leaving. I'm sorry for leaving without explaining or saying goodbye. Not for the date. The date was amazing. Beyond amazing! I mean, geez, I hope ALL of our dates are like that. I just meant I shouldn't have left so abruptly! I never thought that you'd think I was apologizing for taking you –" Carly's long winded exclamation was interrupted.

"Wait, 'all of our dates'? As in you want more? I'm so confused. I thought you wanted to talk so you could, you know, let me down gently." Melanie said with a puzzled but hopeful expression on her face.

"Well yeah, I was hoping there'd be more." Carly blushed. "You know, if you're still willing to give me a chance after last night."

Melanie's face lit up, her blue eyes shining like clear Caribbean water reflecting a brilliantly shining sun. Despite her elation at the unexpected turn of events, she decided to continue cautiously.

"So what exactly are saying?" The blonde asked softly.

Carly's face flushed. Not trusting herself to reply without rambling or spouting out complete nonsense, she simply leaned over the table and kissed the other women lightly on the lips. Melanie's eyes fluttered close as she savored the contact. Melanie let out a small hum of pleasure but pulled back gently.

"As great as that is, it's not a clear answer. I need you to tell me you want this, I'm not gonna make your decision for you. If you want to give us a chance, I'd be ecstatic, but I need to hear you say that that's what you want. Cause if you want Sam…" Melanie trailed off looking down. Taking a deep breath she continued, "if you want her, I understand. But _please_ let me know now. Please don't lead me on."

As if the waiter could tell Carly need an interruption, he appeared beside the table to get the two young women's orders. Carly thanked the waiter silently for his good timing, deciding he'd earned a decent tip.

After both women had given their orders, they sat in an awkward silence, both unsure what to say. Realizing that Melanie was waiting on her for a response Carly glanced at her hands and began to speak.

"I've spent the last few years wishing I could take that next step with Sam; telling myself that if I just only had the opportunity…" She sighed, taking a sip of her peppy cola before continuing, "and now I have it, and all I can think is that I'd be making a huge mistake if I didn't take a chance with you."

Melanie looked about to respond, but the food arrived, effectively cutting her off. As the server placed their food on the table Carly took the opportunity to study Melanie's face, trying to read the other girls emotions. When the waiter finally disappeared again, Carly looked down and continued before Melanie could speak.

"I honestly don't know what I want anymore. I came here thinking I did. I mean I know I want to see what could happen between us, but this thing with Sam." Agitated with her confusion and inner turmoil, Carly poked at her food with her fork.

"It's just that I feel…I mean Sam is…" Sighing in frustration Carly dropped her fork and looked up directly into Melanie's startlingly blue eyes. "I like you Melanie. I like you a lot. And I want to give you a chance; I want to give us a chance. I just need to talk to Sam first. I need to figure out…"

Carly trailed off no longer sure what to say. She picked her fork up and began to slowly eat her food. She was surprised a few moments later when she felt warmth encompass her hand.

"Take whatever time you need. Talk to Sam. I'll still be here, just…don't leave me hanging."

Melanie smiled at the brunette softly before releasing her hand and turning her attention back to her own food. Carly, on the other hand, was still stunned by Melanie's statement. She wasn't sure what she had done to earn the affection of such an understanding woman, but she was grateful. Carly eventually turned her attention back to her food as well and the two women continued the meal in a comfortable silence. It wasn't quite what Carly had had in mind for the meeting, but she was content with the results. Now she only had to talk to Sam…


	12. For You

The plate of food was eaten and lying in the sink when Carly returned. She took it as a good sign that her friend had finally woken up and hopefully wasn't suffering from too much of a hangover. Carly poured a glass of apple juice and searched through a cabinet for a bottle of aspirin. Shaking a few into her hand she recapped the bottle and walked down the hallway to Sam's door.

"Sam." She called out as she knocked softly.

There was an unintelligible response and then shuffling. After a moment the door rattled slightly. She heard a muffled curse and then the door cracked open slightly. Carly caught a glimpse of Sam's messy room and the pile of clothes that was, no doubt, impeding the doors progress, before Sam managed to slip out into the hallway. Leaning against the door frame Sam's bloodshot eyes met Carly's.

Carly smiled slightly and held out her offering of juice and painkillers. Sam took the offered items gratefully.

"Why are you so good to me?" She grunted in appreciation as she lifted the glass to her lips. Carly rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Because I love you, stupid."

Carly grimaced as soon as the words slipped pass her lips and Sam paused with the glass halfway to her mouth. Carly looked down awkwardly as Sam took a long swallow of her juice. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence Sam spoke up.

"I guess we should talk or something." She sighed quietly.

At Carly's nod of agreement, Sam turned and began the dangerous task of pushing the door to her bedroom open. Carly watched her friend shove her shoulder into the door and grunt with exertion. She watched the struggle for a while longer before chuckling at the situation. Grabbing Sam's hand gently, she guided them to her own, much cleaner, room.

Sam climbed into Carly's bed and burrowed into the covers. Carly smiled as she lay down in the bed and wrapped her arms around the blonde. Despite the difficult conversation ahead of them, the familiarity put them both at ease. The silence in the room stretched on for long moments. Carly was beginning to think her best friend had fallen asleep until Sam shifted and grabbed onto her hand, lacing there fingers together and holding them tight to her stomach.

"I'm not sure if I said it last night, but I'm really sorry." Sam sighed. "I mean not just for last night, but for everything. I know I've kinda been a jerk for the last couple of weeks, but I didn't mean to. Honest! It's just that when I think about you with her I get so angry and I can't help it and I feel like I need to lash out and hurt people but I never want to hurt you." Sam paused for a moment before repeating softly, "I never want to hurt you."

Carly was stunned. Although the shorter woman had said most of this last night, she was still floored by the depth of her best friend's emotions. Finally pulling her thoughts together, she asked one of the things that had been bugging her all day.

"Did you mean it? The messages last night I mean." When Sam failed to immediately respond Carly began to backtrack. "I mean of course you probably don't remember. You were REALLY drunk. And I guess it's not really that important cause you probably didn't mean it because you didn't know what you were sayi-"

"I knew exactly what I was saying." Sam interrupted the rambling. She twisted in the brunette's arms so that she could face her. "And I meant it too. I just wish I had the guts to say it sooner."

Carly was struggling to string her thoughts together. "Since when?"

"Since I tried to take your tuna sandwich in the third grade." The reply was immediate and without hesitation.

Carly struggled to overcome her shock, "…Sam…We were 8…"

Sam shrugged. "So?"

"You can't possibly have known it then."

Sam laughed. "No chiz. I didn't know it then. I figured out later how I felt and realized it's been the same feeling all along."

"So when did you realize it?" Carly eventually managed to respond,

Sam buried her head into the pillow and mumbled something. Carly chuckled at her friend and nudged her head up. "Can you repeat that for me?" Carly laughed.

Sam shook her head. "You don't wanna know."

"Is it some sort of big mystery?" Carly asked amused. "Now I _really_ want to know."

A blush crept up Sam's cheeks.

"It can't be THAT bad, Sam." Carly assured.

"When Freddie and I had sex the first time." The blonde finally blurted out. Sam had trouble interpreting the look on her friend's face.

"I kinda said your name." Sam elaborated. This only seemed to confuse the other girl more.

"Said my name?" Carly questioned slowly.

"Yeah. When I… you know…" Sam trailed off as she could feel her cheeks getting redder.

Carly looked dumbstruck for a moment before realization dawned on her. "Oh." And another few moments before the full meaning actually sank in. "….OH!"

"Sam!" Carly shrieked. Sam pulled the covers over her head in embarrassment as Carly continued. "You were thinking about me when you and Freddie were…"

Carly could see the covers move as Sam nodded her head. Everything was falling into place for the brunette.

"And that's why you came rushing into my place screaming about being a lesbian."

The covers moved again with Sam's nod. When a minute or two had passed without anything being said, Sam poked her head cautiously from under the covers. Seeing the contemplative look on her friends face, she fully uncovered her head.

"…Carly?" She asked tentatively.

"How did Freddie react?" Carly asked.

Sam looked reluctant to answer.

"Come on, it can't get any worse." Carly pointed out.

Sam sighed and gave in. "He said your name too."

It took a moment for Carly to process before her face screwed up in disapproval.

"Ew…that's just…ew…" She shook her head is if that would dislodge the troubling thoughts now stuck in her head.

"So it's okay that did it, but it's not okay for the dork?" Sam was entirely too amused by Carly's reaction.

"But it's different. You're you and he's…Freddie…" Carly said as if it explained her reaction.

Sam snorted. "Then I guess I shouldn't tell you he did it last night too."

"SAM!" Carly put her hands over her ears as if to block out the unwanted thoughts as Sam laughed in amusement. Carly removed her hands to point accusingly at her friend when the words suddenly clicked in her head. "So you DID have sex with Freddie last night!"

Sam's mouth immediately snapped shut and she looked away. The entire situation suddenly seemed a lot less amusing. Carly frowned.

"Why?"

"I don't know." Sam shrugged dejectedly. "Cause he's in love with you. And I'm in love you. And in some sick sort of fucked up way it made sense?" Carly was dumbfounded by the other girl's admission. In some insane manner it sort of did make sense.

"Why didn't you tell me how you felt when you first realized it?" Carly finally responded.

"Well when I figured it out you had just started dating that kid Alex, and I figured it was bad enough I was dumping my grand spanking new realized sexuality on you. Telling you that I was in love with you didn't seem like the greatest idea at the time." Sam shrugged with a despondent look on her face.

"But that was YEARS ago Sam. It's never occurred to you to say something before now?"

Sam became slightly agitated. "Of COURSE I've thought about it. I thought about it when you broke up with him. And I thought about it again when that bitch Jessica dumped you, and when you started dating that loser Christy, and every single time you looked at someone that wasn't me. But I want you to be happy, so I didn't want to interfere."

"But you make me happy." It was the first thought that came to mind and it left her lips without thought.

"How?" Sam blurted in agitation. "I'm always fucking things up and getting into trouble and I never do anything right."

"You're always there. That's all I've ever needed."

"But now you want her." Sam's voice cracked a little. She dipped her head causing her hair to cover her face, but Carly could still tell that she was fighting back tears.

Carly tucked the blonde hair behind an ear and lifted Sam's head so their eyes could meet. When she was sure she had the other girl's undivided attention she spoke slowly and carefully. "But I'll _always_ need _you_."

"If she hurts you I'll kill her." Sam whispered softly after a while, with a small broken smile.

Carly grinned in spite of the violent threat. "Aren't you supposed to threaten me not to hurt her? She IS your sister after all."

Sam shrugged. "Eh. She can take care of herself."

Carly laughed lightly and pressed her forehead against her best friend's.

"Are we gonna be okay?"

"You're my best friend. We have to." Sam slowly nodded causing both of their heads to move.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Carly whispered.

Sam closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them Carly had trouble keeping herself from drowning in the depths of blue. Her own eyes fluttered shut as Sam placed a quick and gentle kiss on her lips.

"For you Carly Shay, I will try."


	13. Words

"Ew. Could you two get a room? Geez." Sam said as she walked into Carly's room uninvited.

The pair curled up comfortably together on Carly's bed looked away from the Lifetime movie playing on TV to the blonde strolling through the doorway. Before either could react Sam had plopped herself onto Carly's bed directly between the pair. Melanie shoved her sister in exasperation and Carly could only laugh at her best friend's interruption.

"We ARE in a room." Melanie said rolling her eyes as Carly tried unsuccessfully to hold back her laughter.

"I meant a DIFFERENT one." Sam retorted. Carly gave up all pretense of controlling her amusement and began to laugh out loud.

Glaring over her sister, Melanie gave Carly a pointed look. "Don't encourage her!"

"It _is_ my room, Sam." Carly pointed out as her laughter died down. "What do you need anyway? I thought you were going out."

"I am." Sam confirmed. "But I can't find my keys."

"Did you check the fridge?" Carly immediately asked.

"Of course I checked the fridge. Can I just borrow yours?"

"Yeah, they're on the desk by the door." Carly sighed. Sam whooped in excitement, giving her best friend a peck on the lips, and clambering over her sister to grab the keys before she could protest.

"Don't lose them!" Carly yelled after her friend as she left the room.

Carly scooted back over towards the blonde in her bed so they could reclaim the position she held before her best friend barged in. She noticed the mildly annoyed look on Melanie's face and raised an eyebrow. When the blonde looked away instead of voicing her irritation Carly frowned.

"What's wrong?"

The blonde shook her head and remained silent. After some thought, Melanie turned to face Carly with a curious look.

"Why would her phone be in the fridge?" She questioned.

Carly laughed. "Sam always loses her phone after drinking, so I decided that whenever she drinks, she should put her keys in the fridge so she'll always be able to find them later."

"Why the fridge?"

"Because it's the first place she'll go after she wakes up from a night of drinking." Carly laughed.

Melanie shook her head in amusement at the twisted, but functional, logic. "Your best friend is a mess."

"She's your sister." Carly retorted.

"Don't remind me." Melanie replied. The look on the blonde's face fell again and Carly looked worried.

"Mel, talk to me. What's wrong?"

Melanie struggled for a few seconds to get the words out. "What are we?"

Carly shrugged and looked down. She had been avoiding putting a label to her situation with Melanie.

"We've been doing…" Melanie gestured between them in frustration. "…whatever _this_ is for almost a month now. I like you. A lot. And I want the world to know. I want to talk about you with my friends. But every time I try I can't cause I don't know what to call you! I don't know what we are! Are we friends? Friends with benefits? Fuck buddies without the fuc–"

On instinct Carly leaned over and pressed her lips to Melanie's to cut off the girl's rant. The rest of Melanie's words were lost on her tongue as she became lost in the other girls lips. Melanie's hands fisted in the other girl's shirt as she pulled her on top of her and deepened the kiss. They separated slowly, both in desperate need of air. Carly rested her head in the crook of Melanie's neck, eyes closed, her breath ragged as she attempted to even out her breaths. After a moment she placed a soft kiss against the girl's collarbone. After a pause she placed another one slightly above the first. She continued trailing kisses up the other girl's neck following an invisible path to the girl's ear. Carly inhaled deeply, hesitated, and then released a shaky breath.

"Be my girlfriend." She whispered softly into the blonde's ear.

Melanie's body tensed. She turned her head slightly to catch the brunette's eyes. Piercing blue searched deep brown, trying to gage the sincerity of the words. Without warning, Melanie frantically pulled the taller girl down towards her, crushing their lips together again. After a brief moment of hesitation Carly responded just as eagerly. Melanie managed to find the leverage to flip the two of them over and began trailing kisses down the other girl's neck, lingering at her pulse point to suck firmly and draw a breathy moan from the girl beneath her.

"Mmm. So is that a yes?" Carly questioned pulling back slightly.

"Of course I'll be your girlfriend." Melanie grinned in complete joy.

The moment was interrupted by a loud clatter near the door. Both girls attention refocused to catch Sam standing in the doorway, an unreadable expression on her face. She held up her own keys in explanation.

"I found them. They were in the egg carton." She shook her head dejectedly before turning away. "Congratulations."

Every muscle in Carly's body had tensed upon seeing her friend walk away. Her eyes remained on the now empty doorway, every nerve in her body fighting an epic battle to determine whether she would follow after the blonde who'd walked out the door, her _best_ friend, or remain under the almost identical blonde hovering above her, her _girlfriend_ now. Melanie had tensed as well, sensing the powerful internal struggle occurring in the body beneath her. Her eyes were boring into Carly, hoping against hope she would stay, but preparing for the potential inevitability of her leaving her to chase after Sam. Again.

An eternity passed in mere minutes, the front door slamming shut. As if it was the final canon signaling the end of a war, Carly's slowly relaxed under Melanie, finally returning her gaze. Melanie saw abject sadness momentarily pass through brown orbs before it was overpowered with unbridled joy.

"So what does the best girlfriend in the world have planned for the rest of the day?"

If smiles could light up the sky, in that moment, Melanie's could have melted the polar caps.

* * *

"Either you're plotting murder or searching for Waldo."

The comment garnered no response. Shelby was beginning to worry. Her blonde friend hadn't said a word since she climbed into the car. She glanced over at Sam for the umpteenth time in the past few minutes. The blonde's eyebrows were knit together in furious concentration and her fists were tightly in her lap. She glared out the car window as if attempting to set the scenery flitting past outside on fire with her eyes.

"I think I could pull it off. My O Chem TA has a crush on me so I think I could talk her into getting a hold of some acid for me. Then I would just have to chop the parts small enough to hide in coolers and figure out where to dump them. And we look exactly alike, so if I just pretend to be her for a while no one will even know she's missing at first."

"Whoa there firecracker, I was just kidding." The abrupt disruption of the awkward silence coupled with the seeming sincerity of Sam's words caught Shelby off guard. She glanced at the blonde again nervously, and impossibly, the girl in her passenger seat seemed even more tense. Her knuckles ashen white from strain, her jaw locked shut, her eye occasionally twitching, and the vein on her temple pounding an erratic rhythm.

Taking in her surroundings quickly, Shelby switched lanes before pulling into a small half deserted strip mall parking lot. Parking the car and shutting the engine off she turned her full attention to her friend. Unbuckling her seat belt she tentatively reached over to place a hand gently on Sam's shoulder.

Sam flinched, looking around wildly before her gaze fell on her dark haired friend. Catching the worried look being sent her way Sam seemed to suddenly deflate. She gave Shelby an apologetic half smile. The sat in uncomfortable silence before Shelby finally felt the pressure to speak.

"So, Puckett… Care to explain why I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to figure out if my PR team would let me visit you after you got locked up for the murder you seemed so determined to commit?"

Sam shrugged, the obvious anger she had been radiating before now masked by determined indifference. Shelby shook her head not allowing the girl beside her to continue avoiding the issue.

"Look, Sparky. Whatever the hell has been eating at you is starting to get a _little_ out of control. You've been flying off the handle for the last couple weeks. I don't know if you've noticed most of your friends tip-toeing around you all week, but they're afraid that at any minute you're gonna explode."

"So is this some sort of intervention or something?" Sam rolled her eyes.

"Don't think so highly of yourself." Shelby scoffed. "I have nothing to be afraid of around you. If you get out of control I'll just kick your ass."

This seemed to inspire the desired result, as Sam began to laugh.

"Whatever, scrawny. You weigh like 12 pounds. I could take you any day."

"I might hold you to that challenge." Shelby smirked before turning serious again. "Really though Sam, what's going on? How are you?"

Sam rubbed at her forehead furiously, as if trying to buffer unwanted thoughts out of her head. When that didn't work she sighed giving in.

"I want to be happy about it. I really do." Shelby gave Sam a puzzled look, but the blonde was staring out the front windshield and not at her friend. "Like sometimes I get mad at myself for being so _un_happy about it. I mean it's my best friend and my sister. Then I remember there _is _something that could be more perfect. She could be with _me_. In fact she _should_ be with me."

"I'm guessing she didn't get the message. You know, with the 3 or 4 girls you've been bringing home every other week since we started college…" Shelby replied sarcastically.

"Well what was I supposed to do?" Sam retaliated. "I fuck everything up all the time. I've cheated on every single girlfriend I've ever had. I get drunk and pick fights and then forget what I did in the morning. I can't even keep track of my own shit without help."

"Why is it that she "should" be with you again?" Shelby cocked an eyebrow.

"I'm never gonna be good enough for her." Sam said dejectedly.

Shelby rolled her eyes. The blonde wasn't stupid, but she seemed to have an IQ of about 3 where it concerned her best friend's feelings.

"Carly loves you exactly the way you are. Drunken bar fights and all. She never needed you to be anyone other than who you are. She just wanted you to want her back."

"Well why didn't she ever say that?" Sam shouted in frustration.

"Why didn't you?" Shelby quickly retaliated. When Sam failed to answer Shelby continued. "It never struck you as odd that she's never really given you a concrete explanation for why she's broken up with almost every single one of her exes."

"I just figured she just broke up with them because they were all losers." Sam realized what she said and looked up at Shelby in apology. "No offense."

"None taken. I broke up with her, so I don't count." Shelby smirked.

Sam had no trouble recalling Shelby and Carly's break up. Carly had come back to her dorm room in tears, and Sam saw red. It had taken Freddie, Gibby, and a tranquilizer to prevent Sam from hunting the fighter down. Even almost 2 years later, the memory still evoked the same reaction.

"I thought we had a very strict agreement about that. You refrain from talking about it, and I refrain from permanently ending your fighting career." Sam was digging her nails into her thigh and willing herself to let go of the irrational anger the memory had caused.

"I think that's actually part of the problem." Shelby bit her lip contemplatively for a moment. "Did Carly ever even talk to you about what happened?"

Sam was slow to respond, busy taking deep breaths to calm herself down. It was bad enough that Shelby had even gotten the precious opportunity to call her best friend "girlfriend," but to break up with the former webshow host was a travesty of epic proportions in the blonde's mind. The only reason Shelby had avoided the violent confrontation that all of Carly's other exes had suffered, was that the brunette had begged her not to. Finally grasping at her center of peace, she mustered up a response.

"She just said that she was upset that you didn't think things would work out between the two of you. But it was okay because you two were still going to be friends. She refused to say anything else about it after that, and since you two seemed to get along well enough, and we made our agreement, I didn't see any reason to dig further."

Shelby shook her head with a slight frown.

"I told her I didn't think it would work because she was obviously in love with someone else." The glare that shot her way actually made Shelby a little fearful.

"You couldn't have mentioned this, I don't know, _2 years ago_!"

"Whoa there, firecracker." Shelby put her hands up in submission unconsciously shifting her body further away from the irate blonde.

"First, you told me to NEVER talk to you about what happened between me and Shay." Shelby stated holding up one finger.

"Second, I was too busy trying to get into _your_ pants to _even bother_ having a conversation about the break up even if you wanted." She continued with a second finger up.

"And third, I didn't even REALIZE it was you she was in love with until AFTER I broke up with her and she flipped on me for trying to practice naked ground fighting with you." She finished holding up a third finger.

Sam looked dumbfounded. Apparently her and her best friend's feelings had almost always been obvious to everybody except the two of them.

"It's always been you. The two of you have just been too blind to see it. I was honestly shocked that you even gave your blessing for them to be…whatever it is you wanna call it…that they are now."

"Girlfriends." Sam swallowed past the lump in her throats. "They're girlfriends. Officially. As of today."

"Well that explains your half-planned attempted murder."

"I've been trying to bury my feelings for her for half my life; trying to find even the smallest fraction of what I feel with Carly in every Sue, Jane, and Shelly I could find; and your basically telling me that if I'd just said something I could have had her?"

Shelby nodded simply. "Those sound like poor choices, by the way. I dated a Sue and she was batshit crazy. Both Jane's sucked in bed. And I have no experiences with Shelly's, but if you want to give a Shelby a try, I have a good one in mind."

Sam ignored the brunette, the gears in her hard at work turning wheels trying to string an important thought together. Finally her eyes lit up as if in realization and Shelby almost swore there was an audible "ding" and a light bulb had gone off above her Sam's head.

"I admitted I loved her and she didn't even say anything back." Sam whispered.

"Why would she? She was going to pick your sister over you. Even more importantly, you let her go without fighting for her."

"But if she had said it back I probably _would've_ fought for her." Sam muttered in agitation. "Wait… You knew she was going to pick Melanie over me?"

Shelby cringed. "She talked to me about everything the morning after she received the messages you left her during your drunken revelry."

Sam looked crestfallen and heartbroken. "Well fuck me."

Shelby pulled her seatbelt on as she restarted the car. "I've been trying to do that for almost 2 years. How about we start off with some drinks?"


	14. Moments

**I just want to take a moment to thank you guys for the reviews and the alerts. I hope you're still enjoying the story! =)**

* * *

"I thought you were making a sandwich." Shelby commented as Sam returned to the living room and took a seat on the couch.

"It ish a samif." Sam tried to reply around the giant mouthful of food she was attempting to chew.

"All I see is half a pig sliced on a bun." Shelby responded incredulously as Sam finally managed to finish swallowing her bite.

"No. It's ham, bacon, and salami between two pieces of bread. Otherwise known as a sandwich." Sam opened her mouth wide and took another bite of the sandwich that was almost as large as her head.

Shelby shook her head and turned her attention back to the television. Sam, happily engrossed in her mid-afternoon snack, was completely oblivious to the champion fighter taking the remote and changing the channel; until she finished her meal at least.

"What happened to Girly Cow?" Wiping her hands on her pants, Sam stared at the TV confused.

"I got tired of it and changed the channel." Shelby rolled her eyes.

"Well change it back."

Shelby stared at Sam contemplatively for a moment before responding defiantly. "No."

"Uh… Yeah! This is MY apartment."

"And I'm your guest, so I should get to choose. Plus, you have the ENTIRE series on DVD."

"No I don't!" Sam lied easily.

"Bullshit. I put it away for you when I helped you clean your room last week." Shelby retorted.

Sam huffed, crossed her arms, and stared despondently at the TV in silence. This lasted all of 2 minutes before she stretched over the couch and made a grab for the remote in Shelby's hand. Having been waiting for the move, Shelby was prepared and easily switched the remote to her other hand and out of the blonde's reach. Smirking she flipped the channel again.

"Hmm. Judge Judy sounds interesting doesn't it?" The brunette mocked.

"UGH!" Sam cried out in disgust. "Give it back!"

Sam made another lunge for the remote, missed entirely, and landed heavily on top of the other girl. Unprepared for the sudden extra weight, the fighter lost her balance and toppled off the couch. The pair rolled around on the floor for a minute attempting to gain the upper hand. Sam finally let out a shout of triumph as she successfully pinned the brunette beneath her. While Shelby's extensive training gave her an extreme advantage when on her feet, as a former wrestling champion, Sam had the far superior skills on the ground.

Sam's triumphant grin slowly turned to a look of confusion. Despite the fact Sam had managed to trap the girl beneath her, the brunette was sporting a winning smile. Sam shook her head in frustration.

"What are you smiling about? _I'm_ the one on top!"

"And _I'm_ still the one with the remote." Shelby grinned mischievously. "But you on top is definitely worth smiling for."

Sam groaned in frustration and moved to grab at the remote. Shelby quickly shoved the remote behind her head and slightly down the back of her top, and then locked her hands behind her neck. Sam tumbled forward slightly and landed with her hands on either side of the brunette's head, there faces separated by only a few inches. Shelby smirked and raised an eyebrow silently challenging the blonde.

Sam stared in contemplation at the girl beneath her. If she reached for the remote she's positive Shelby would take advantage of their close proximity, but if she didn't go after the remote she might be stuck watching reruns of Judge Judy for the rest of the evening. The blonde's concentration was broken when she heard keys jingling in the door. Before she could react Carly and Freddie were making there way into the apartment.

"–understand if it actually was, but it's not. It was salmon!" Freddie argued as he dropped his bookbag off his shoulder.

"You're shirt was pink. There's nothing wrong with that." Carly rolled her eyes in exasperation as she closed and locked the door behind them.

"It was NOT PINK!"

"Look Freddie, Jillian told Mel that it was a great date, so I'm not sure why it matters what color you think your shirt…" Carly trailed off as she noticed the pair on the floor in front of the couch.

"This _isn't_ what it looks like!" Sam said quickly. Her eyes are locked on Carly's, silently pleading with the girl to believe her.

The former webshow host stared at the two women on the floor carefully considering their compromising position. An odd look crossed her face fleetingly before she calmly raised an eyebrow.

"Well if the two of you aren't fighting over the remote I'd suggest you take your activities somewhere a little more private."

"Ok…" Sam's let out slowly. "Then it's _exactly_ what it looks like."

"Personally I like Shay's suggestion." Shelby commented from beneath the blonde.

Taking advantage of Carly's limited view, the champion fighter took the opportunity to roll her hips into Sam suggestively. The blonde couldn't control the slight gasp the action elicited, and her face went slightly red. She couldn't help but recall that she's been celibate for far too long. It'd been nearly three months, she realized quickly. Her last sexual encounter occurring the night before her best friend and her sister had made there relationship official.

Sam bit her lip to suppress a soft moan when the brunette shifted slightly beneath her. She looked down to see that the other girl had moved her hands from behind her head to rest on Sam's hips. A cocky smile was firmly in place as Shelby took in the effect her actions were having on the blonde.

"Sam does have a thing for trashy court TV." Carly's voice broke through the haze of sudden arousal in Sam's mind and she snapped her head to glare at her friend.

"Don't encourage her!" Sam replied in frustration as Carly headed down the hallway towards her bedroom.

"If you don't want her to feel encouraged, maybe you should stop straddling her." Carly threw out before she disappeared into her room.

"She has a point." Shelby stated as she canted her hips upward again causing the blonde's eyes to momentarily flutter shut. When Sam's eyes reopen Shelby's lips were a breath away, her eyes burning into Sam's baby blues. "You're not exactly discouraging me."

The words caused Shelby's lips to brush teasingly over the blonde's and before her mind could tell her body not to, Sam was leaning forward to capture the other girls lips. As they made contact a warm heat settled low in her stomach, further encouraging her to press forward. Sam leaned down to gain better access to the woman below her, but before she could get lost in the moment, a garbled groan distracted her.

The shorter girl turned her head sharply to the source of the noise. She glared at Freddie who had been rooted to the same spot since he noticed the two women tangled together suggestively on the floor. His eyes were glazed and his mouth was hanging open, drool gathering in one corner.

"Fredward," Sam's voice was dangerously low, "your eyes have two and a half seconds to find somewhere else to look before I make sure the only thing they ever see again is the back of your skull."

Freddie made a frightened noise that sounded suspiciously like a startled goat before he scrambled to avert his eyes and grab his discarded backpack. He attempted to make a comprehensive excuse as he fumbled with his bag and attempted to exit.

"Studying! …uh, Carly… in room… um…leaving." He tripped over his own feet as he frantically exited the living room.

"I'm not normally the bottom type, but I'll make a special exception for you." Shelby laughed at the startled blond above her.

No longer trapped in the overwhelming haze of lust, Sam rethought her recent actions and slowly rolled off the brunette below her and stood up. Shelby dropped her head back to the floor in frustration.

"C'mon, Puckett. That's not fair!" She groaned in disappointment. "You can't just leave me hanging like that."

Sam rolled her eyes and held out her hand to help the other girl up. Shelby sighed in defeat before taking the offered hand and climbing to her feet. The remote quickly fell out from underneath her shirt and Sam snatched it before Shelby could make a grab at it. Sam flipped the channel back and frowned in disappointment when she realized the Girly Cow episode was over. An episode of Hannah Montana was playing now.

"Ew." Sam muttered in disgust.

"Seconded." Shelby agreed. "Although Miley Cyrus was kinda hot before the drug binge."

"Dude, no. Just… No." Sam shook her head as she turned the TV off. Throwing the remote onto the couch, she made her way towards her room, Shelby followed closely behind.

"So now what?"

"I dunno." Sam shrugged as she flopped down on the edge of her bed and turned on the television in her room. She smirked as the other girl pushed the door closed and relaxed on the bed beside her. "I _do_ have the Girly Cow series on DVD."

"Absolutely not!" Shelby responded immediately.

"Well then I don't know what to tell you." Sam laughed as she set up her Xbox.

Picking up a controller she quickly became engrossed in the game on the screen. Shelby looked between the girl and the TV screen in disappointment. With a sigh, she leaned back against the headboard and crossed her arms.

"You're really just gonna sit here and play a game?" Shelby huffed in annoyance.

"Yep." Sam reached for a mostly full glass sitting on the stand beside her bed. She took a sip of the juice that had been discarded earlier in the day and smirked to herself at the disgruntled sounds her friend was making.

Shelby sat in silence and watched Sam play the game for a while before an idea struck. Slipping behind the preoccupied girl, she leaned forward and gently brushed her lips against the back of the blonde's neck. Sam distractedly waved her hand at Shelby in an attempt to brush the girl off. Shelby smiled to herself leaning further forward, wrapping her arms around Sam's waist and began to leave soft kisses on the shorter girl's neck.

"Knock it off." Sam muttered not taking her eyes off the game.

The brunette chuckled against the blonde's neck. She could feel the goose bumps forming and the small hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. Sam muttered something unintelligible under her breath and reached for her juice, taking a long gulp. With a smirk, Shelby leaned down again and sucked firmly on the blonde's pulse point.

"Shit!" Sam choked on the juice slightly before coughing it up. The juice splattered a little on the floor, but the majority of the juice in the glass and her mouth ended up on the front of her shirt.

"Sorry!" Shelby laughed, her apology coming across completely insincere.

"What the fuck!" Sam was at a loss for more appropriate words. Shelby's continued laughter didn't help at all. With a frustrated groan Sam set the glass down a little harder than necessary, grabbed a towel, and stormed off towards the bathroom to clean up.

Turning the water on, she quickly peeled the soiled shirt off and ran it under the warm water. Satisfied that she had washed out as much of the red liquid as possible she hung it over the towel rack. She repeated the process with her bra before grabbing a wash cloth and soaking it under the water as well.

As she slowly wiped the stickiness off her body, she failed to hear the door creak open slightly. It was the soft gasp that finally alerted her to the presence of another person. Turning quickly her cool blue eyes locked with Carly's warm brown. Carly seemed frozen as she stood in the door way staring at her best friend. After a few moments, her eyes slipped from the blonde's face to her completely bare upper half.

"My eyes are up here, cupcake." Sam said softly.

Carly's eyes snapped back up to Sam's face, growing red with a slight blush. Before she was aware of what she was doing, she took an unconscious step towards the blonde. As if being pulled by some sort of invisible rope, Sam moved toward her friend as well. Before either could fully register what was happening Sam had Carly pressed against the bathroom door, forcing it closed with a slam.

Their lips met frantically. Carly pulled urgently at the waist of Sam's jeans pulling her best friend as close as possible. Sam clung to the brunette's shirt with equal desperation. Sam's hand snaked under Carly's shirt seeking warm skin, the contact eliciting a soft gasp from the taller girl. Sam took advantage of this opportunity and snuck her tongue into the brunette's mouth eager to explore new territory. Carly shifted in Sam's arms, one of her legs finding it way between the shorter girl's.

Sam shifted her lips from the ones beneath her and found their way to Carly's neck. She kissed beneath the brunette's ear making her shiver before moving down slightly further and sucking firmly. The blonde's actions were rewarded with a soft moan. Carly arched her back seeking more contact. Her leg shifted up against Sam's center, drawing out a strangled groan of desire. The sound seemed to snap Carly back to her senses and she hastily scrambled to push her friend away.

The two girls locked eyes, out of breath. Sam's eyes were clouded with desire, Carly's filled with confusion. Before Sam had the chance to catch her breath and comment, Carly was already scrambling backwards for the door.

"Sam…" She mumbled brokenly. "I…we…I can't do this."

Carly fumbled with the door before managing to get it open. She threw it closed behind her, making a quick retreat into her bedroom. Sam slammed her fist into the door before resting her forehead against the cool wood.

While she was certain that Carly had to be the best kisser she'd ever had the pleasure of locking lips with, she was also certain that she had just managed to severely complicate their friendship. And to top it all off, she was ridiculously horny.

"Fuck…" She groaned softly to herself.

After taking a moment to collect her thoughts she shuffled around in the dirty clothes hamper in the corner, searching for a shirt that was clean enough to throw on before trekking back to her room. Finally finding a t-shirt that smelled acceptable she pulled it over her head and trudged out of the bathroom. She was just in time to catch Carly and Freddie making their way out of Carly's bedroom.

"I don't understand why we're leaving. If you wanted to go to my apartment to study, why didn't we just go there in the first place?" Freddie questioned as he threw his backpack over his shoulder. Carly caught Sam's eye before looking away quickly.

"Just let it go, Freddie." Carly mumbled before shoving the boy gently down the hallway and out of the apartment.

Frustrated, Sam stormed back into her own bedroom slamming the door shut loudly behind her. Shelby was lounging on the bed flipping through the channels.

"Bout time, firecracker. I was beginning to think you drowned." She turned to face the blonde, recognizing the look of agitation on her face, and the desire in her eyes.

Sam made a split second decision. Climbing on the bed she snatched the remote out of the fighter's hand, straddled her waist, and pinned both of the girl's hands above her head. Shelby raised a curious eyebrow but made no move to dislodge the girl above her.

"Listen. This is a one time thing. Nothing changes between us, and it doesn't happen again. Got it?" Sam watched as a Cheshire smile worked its way across Shelby's face. The brunette nodded before leaning upwards to capture the blonde's lips forcefully.


	15. If These Walls Could Talk

Sam groaned and covered her face with her pillow as another muffled groan sounded through the walls. The first time this happened Sam had been confused. The obvious reasoning to the noises had not immediately come to mind. The blonde believed her sister and her best friend were too innocent to engage in _those _kinds of activities, especially while she was in still in the apartment. She had confronted Carly about it a few days later.

Blushing furiously, Carly explained that Melanie felt awkward having sex in her new apartment while her new roommate was home. And since the new roommate was a socially awkward sophomore majoring in some sort of complex engineering, she was almost always home. Needless to say, the couple had figured that Carly's apartment was the best alternative for their more "physical" activities. Sam was so caught off guard by Carly's response that she didn't think to question why the pair was comfortable having sex when Sam was present.

The second time Sam found herself stuck in her room listening to an impromptu soundtrack of the couple's passion she was almost ashamed to admit that she had been a little turned on. She had spent a week debating if there was something wrong with her, but after a very awkward, yet very helpful conversation with Gibby, Sam had determined it was a natural response and nothing to be ashamed or worried about.

"Ungh… Oh god…" The words were accompanied by a muffled thump against the wall.

Sam could feel warmth pooling in her lower belly as she recognized Carly's voice. By the third time she had unintentionally been present for the couple's bedroom escapades, she could began distinguishing between their moans of pleasure. Thanks to another unplanned encounter in the bathroom (an empty classroom, the back seat of Carly's car), she was _intimately_ aware of Carly's sounds of arousal.

By the third time Sam also recognized that she was extremely angry. It should be _her_ in there making Carly moan in ecstasy and gasp for air, not Melanie. And the fact that the pair had the audacity to continue their shenanigans regardless of Sam's feelings made the short tempered blonde's rage burn hotter. Despite it all, Sam still found herself wet and frustrated whenever the couple in the other bedroom found their release, and that infuriated her all the more.

Sam responded now the same way she had responded after that third time. Hastily throwing on a hoodie and sweatpants, she grabbed her keys and jammed her feet into her sneakers before bolting out of the apartment, the door slamming resolutely behind her.

* * *

"Mmm, fuck…" Shelby gasped as she pushed Sam's head away from her sore but sated body. "I can't… not again…"

"Have I actually tired out the notorious Shelby Marx?" Sam grinned as she slid slowly back up Shelby's sweat covered body before flopping on her back beside the brunette.

"Well I _was _sleeping when you got here." Shelby retorted before glancing at the clock beside her bed and groaning. "And it's 4am. We've been going at it for almost 3 hours."

"I'm not seeing the problem." Sam laughed. If she was honest, she'd admit that she was tired as well. But their activities kept her more troubling thoughts and feelings at bay. Her grin faded as she unintentionally recalled what had caused her to flee to the champion fighter's apartment in the first place.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Shelby asked softly when she noticed the blonde's mood shift.

"I have class in 4 hours." Sam said dismissively as she rolled onto her side.

"You can't keep running from your problems." Shelby responded in exasperation. "You have to face it at some point."

"There's nothing to face." Sam rolled over and gave Shelby a pointed glare, silently warning the other girl to drop the subject.

Shelby was fed up. They'd been having these random late night rendezvous since the beginning of the semester. It hadn't taken very long for the taller girl to figure out the situation, but with her blonde friend insisting that each time was the "last time," she had decided to keep quiet and enjoy it while she could. Sam had given up the pretense after about a month, but Shelby still hadn't pushed the other girl to talk. Today, however, the brunette refused to let the issue go.

"Bullshit."

Sam attempted to roll away from her friend to face the opposite wall, but a hand quickly pulled the blonde back on her side so she was face to face with her companion. Sam tensed before meeting Shelby's eyes. The concern she found pooling in chocolate brown orbs made her melt.

"There's nothing to talk about." Sam repeated softly.

"Look, don't get me wrong Puckett, the sex is good. Like _really _good. Like probably the best I've-hey! Cut the shit eating grin." Shelby playfully shoved the blonde girl who was smiling wolfishly before growing serious again. "But you don't just show up at someone's door at 1 in the morning and attack them like a dog in heat when there's 'nothing to talk about'."

"I was horny." Sam rolled her eyes.

"And I'd accept that if it was a one time thing. But 3 or 4 times a week?" Shelby raised an eyebrow. "It's 4 in the morning… On a _Tuesday_."

"It's Mel and Carls." Sam admitted softly after a while.

"Ok…" Shelby murmured encouraging her friend to continue.

"It's just getting to me. Always seeing them together, looking so happy. And then to have to _hear_ them when they…you know... It's getting under my skin."

Shelby nodded in sympathy.

"I tried to be happy for them. I really did. But when me and Carly kiss it all just feels so right and I know that it's supposed to be me–"

"Woah, woah, WOAH." Shelby interrupted. "You kissed Shay?"

"No! …Maybe?… Okay, yeah, but totally not the point here!" Sam fumbled.

Shelby shook her head and sat up. Running a hand through her dark hair, she tried to reconcile this new bit of information.

"So are you two–" Shelby struggled to connect all the new information. "Have you two been going behind Mel's back?"

"Not on purpose! We've just kinda had a few slip ups…"

"How many is a 'few'?"

"I dunno. Six or seven times, maybe." Sam closed her eyes. She thought finally getting that off her chest would make her feel better. And while she did feel slightly relieved, mostly she just felt guilty.

"Sam…" Shelby waited for Sam to focus her attention before continuing. "You can't keep doing this to yourself. Fight for her or let her go. But leaving things in limbo like this…"

"I know!" Sam cried in frustration.

"Then make a decision. Preferably soon."

Sam rolled on her side and faced away from her friend.

"It sounds harsh, but it's for the best." Shelby sighed.

"I know." Sam mumbled. "Can we just drop it for now, though? I really do have class at 8am."

Shelby laughed as she pulled the Sam's back flush against her front and wrapped an arm securely around her waist.

"You and I both know you never had any attention of going to that class." Shelby whispered in her companion's ear before settling her head on her own pillow and closing her eyes. Sam grinned but didn't reply.


End file.
